February 6, 2011
The Battle for Tahrir Square
Hundreds of thousands of people pour into the square for the largest antigovernment protest to date.
Security officials say roads and public transportation would be shut down, but protesters cross bridges by foot.
The army guards major public buildings, like the museum, but does not prevent the protest from taking place.
Protesters occupy an area of about eight football fields.
The army lines up tanks and forms checkpoints to control access to the square.
Antigovernment protesters clash with supporters of President Hosni Mubarak near the Egyptian Museum.
Thousands of Mubarak supporters armed with clubs, stones, rocks and knives pass through army checkpoints here.
Mubarak supporters, some riding camels and horses, try to push their way into the square.
Army troops around the museum hold their positions and generally do not engage in the conflict.
Antigovernment protesters break off pieces of pavement to use as projectiles. In the afternoon, both sides push back and forth in this area.
The battle lasts into the evening. Antigovernment protesters, who outnumber the Mubarak supporters, build barricades to keep out their opponents.
Clashes continue between pro- and antigovernment demonstrators while the army tries to separate the groups.
Egyptian security seize equipment from journalists working in buildings, like this hotel, that overlook the fighting.
Pro-Mubarak demonstrators attack foreign journalists in this area. Gunshots are heard in the afternoon.
Army troops and tanks take up positions here, creating a buffer zone between the two sides.
Antigovernment protesters put up barricades here, but it does not stop rocks from both sides from flying over.
Hundreds of thousands of people pour into the square on a relatively peaceful day.
The army is maintaining a buffer zone in this area with tanks and armored vehicles.
Antigovernment protesters are manning barricades in an area where Mubarak supporters tried to push through on previous days.
Protesters are using subway entrances (
)
to dump trash, as well as to detain Mubarak supporters that have been captured.
Protesters have set up a field hospital and some smaller clinics on this block. A KFC restaurant is also being used as a clinic.
Many antigovernment protesters arrive via foot over this bridge. They form two long lines to pass through army checkpoints.
Thousands of people are still in the square, but the military tightened its cordon around the protesters.
An army general urged protesters here to remove their makeshift barricade and move closer to the square, but they did not budge.
Checkpoint that protesters have set up to search people entering the square.
Mubarak supporters have been roaming in this area and on streets on the opposite side of the square.
Antigovernment protesters have stationed men around the square to sound the alarm, by banging metal, if Mubarak supporters attack.
Checkpoint that protesters have set up to search people entering the square.
Defying government calls for a return to normalcy, more than 100,000 turned out to protest in the square.
Traffic is flowing again in this area, which was the scene of fierce clashes between pro- and antigovernment demonstrators just a few days earlier.
The area in front of the museum is a gathering point for security forces (military, police, intelligence).
Tents in these formerly grassy areas seem to be becoming more permanent.
On the far side of the Mugamma, an iconic government building, is where protesters hand over suspected Mubarak supporters to the army.