Egypt Protester Reportedly Killed In Tahrir Square Clashes

Al Arabiya reports that a protester has been killed in clashes with police in Cairo's Tahrir Square, according to the health ministry. 676 protesters have also been injured. The Egyptian newspaper Al-Ahram confirmed the death, saying the protester was killed by a gunshot and died in the hospital.

According to Reuters, the Egyptian state news agency MENA identified the killed protester as 23-year-old Ahmed Mahmoud.

Several activists and journalists were wounded in the clashes. Malek Mostafa, described by the AP as a prominent activist, lost his right eye. Videojournalist Ahmed Abdel-Fatah from Al-Masry Al-Youm was reported to have also been hit in the eye.

18 people have been arrested, according to Egypt's state media.

Violence has erupted in Tahrir Square just nine days before the country's upcoming elections.

According to the Associated Press, clashes between protesters and police began "when riot police dismantled a small tent camp set up to commemorate the hundreds of protesters killed in the uprising and attacked around 200 peaceful demonstrators who had camped in the square overnight in an attempt to restart a long-term sit-in there."

Egypt's Prime Minister Essam Sharaf urged protesters to leave Tahrir. "What is happening in Tahrir is very dangerous and threatens the course of the nation and the revolution," the government warned.