Horses, Camels, Rocks, Molotovs: Egypt’s Thug Tech [Video]

What kind of low-tech weapons are supporters of Egypt’s President Hosni Mubarak using to attack the protestors in Cairo? Think rocks, camels, Molotov cocktails, space heaters and even a cavalry charge.

Egypt runs an ultra-modern security state, with extensive experience wielding the most recent tools of repression. That was on display when the govt. shut down the web for six days with a view to split massive protests against President Hosni Mubarak. But as Mubarak’s thugs go into suppression mode against protesters in Cairo, they’re using low-tech weapons to injure an estimated 500 people at Tahrir Square.

The intensifying crackdown is decidedly old style. There was a cavalry charge into Tahrir Square: as the Army hung back in its armored personnel carriers, plainclothes police forces – some of their ID cards, captured by protesters, were shown on TV – rode camels and horses , attempting to damage demonstrator phalanxes with wooden sticks.

The equine assault was a stark contrast to the Egyptian Army’s armored personnel carriers within the square. After calling on the demonstrators to move home earlier Wednesday, the Army has stayed out of the assault, although some of its carriers became roadblocks to separate the warring factions. Journo/blogger Issandr El Amrani explains that presence of the horses and camels indicates that the regime ” recruited from the stables near the Pyramids ” to make up its hit squad.

There was some sporadic gunfire – apparently warning shots from the Army – but the signature projectile of the day is a rock. Al Jazeera reported that the pro-regime forces were using ” sticks with nails,” knives, ” homemade swords,” chairs, and bits of masonry to attack the demonstrators. Its reporter Dan Nolan watched ” guys in front of me poundin on pavement to damage it into sizes they are able to throw .”

Aluminum siding became makeshift shields and checkpoints. On the terraces above the square, presumed pro-Mubarak forces rained metal appliances – I assumed I saw a space heater thrown – down onto the crowds.

One journalist spotted people throwing ” fire bombs at protesters .” Molotov cocktails are being thrown with ” increased frequency” as night has fallen, Al Jazeera reports. That’s as high-tech as the violence has gotten. And that’s probably a necessity: the govt. is denying that there were any security forces on the streets, preferring to portray the clashes as the organic response of pro-Mubarak Egyptians to ” outlaws” (as Mubarak called them) amidst the protesters. To exploit guns or other weapons would give the misinform that line – although it’s worth noting there were some tear gas assaults.

But just because the weapons in Tahrir Square weren’t sophisticated doesn’t mean they were ineffective. Al Jazeera reports that an estimated 500 people had been injured within the square. It’s not clear what number are dead. And there are still many people at the square instantly.

There’s numerous bitterness amongst the protesters toward the Army at once. What sought for the last couple days like a restraint bordering on a vote of no confidence in Mubarak now appears like uniformed acquiescence to the crackdown. One protester tweets: ” That is the area’s tenth largest army, not a hearth brigade !! Do something u animals!! There are women and youngsters there!!”

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This post is tagged: armored personnel carriers, massive protests, molotov cocktails, president hosni mubarak, sporadic gunfire