Rival groups fighting at Tahrir Square

BBC

Hundreds of people armed with knives and machetes have clashed with pro-democracy activists in Cairo's Tahrir Square, Egyptian state TV says.

According to the BBC, footage showed stones being thrown by both sides in the square. At least two people were reportedly injured.

The people who entered Tahrir wanted to force the activists continuing a sit-in out of the square, reports say.

Tahrir Squarewas the epicentre of protests that forced President Hosni Mubarak to step down last month.

"Hundreds of men carrying knives and swords entered Tahrir," the AFP news agency quoted a report on Egypt's state TV as saying.

The TV channel showed footage of hundreds of people involved in a stand-off and throwing stones at each other.

"A group of gangsters attacked us with stones, they seemed to be wanting us to leave the square," Gamal Hussein, one of the pro-democracy protesters, later told Reuters.

Later on Wednesday, army officers were seen removing demonstrators' tents and asking them to leave the square.

Groups of activists have continued to gather in Tahrir Square even after Mubarak's departure. They are demanding a complete break with the Mubarak regime.

But critics say it is time for life to return to normal in the Egyptian capital.

Insecurity has been rife across Egypt after police disappeared from the streets of major cities during the mass protests.

On Tuesday, at least 13 people died and 140 were injured in clashes between Muslims and Coptic Christians in Cairo.

Egypt's military, currently governing the country, has struggled to keep control of the situation.