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Thousands Cram into Tahrir Square Calling for Morsi to Step Down

Another protester killed in week of protests

Update:

Protests in many other Egyptian cities such as Alexandria, Assiut, Tanta, Mahalla, Mansoura, Luxor, Suez and Port Said have also continued to escalate, particularly in Mahalla, where extremely dangerous clashes have broken out between opposing groups and security forces.

According to local sources, thousands of demonstrators who flooded Al-Shoun square in Al-Mahalla city were met with live fire from local police.

The clashes continued as protesters hurled stones and Molotov cocktails at Muslim Brotherhood offices in the city.

Hundreds have been injured in the clashes; however, ambulances and security workers are having trouble reaching those hurt amidst the chaos.

The Muslim Brotherhood members in Alexandria and Mansoura have also been forced to evacuate their respective Brotherhood HQs after clashes intensified between protestors.

Earlier:

Thousands of protesters packed Tahrir square Tuesday night once again, calling for the resignation of President Mohamed Morsi. Anti-Morsi protesters clashed with police throughout the day leading up to the mass rally, as the protester death toll climbed. The crowds continued to grow into Tuesday evening as several large marches arrived at Tahrir -- people are reportedly "struggling to cram into the square."

"The people want to bring down the regime," protesters chanted -- slogans reminiscent of the anti-Mubarak uprising.

"We don't want a dictatorship again. The Mubarak regime was a dictatorship. We had a revolution to have justice and freedom," 32-year-old protester Ahmed Husseini toldReuters.

The polarized uprising was galvanized last week after Morsi announced a decree that awarded himself sweeping powers over the government in a bid, Morsi claims, to clean out remnants of the former Mubarak regime and protect the progress of the Egyptian revolution. Opponents say the move would return Egypt to autocratic rule and would do away with gains made in the country's popular revolution.

Both pro- and anti-Morsi protesters have taken to the streets since the decree last week, clashing with each other as well as with security forces.

On Tuesday, police fired tear gas while clashing with anti-Morsi protesters in the streets, leading to the death of another protester, who died after inhaling tear gas in Cairo. Hundreds have been injured since last week.

Protesters also came out across Egypt during the day Tuesday in Alexandria, Suez, Minya and cities in the Nile Delta.

Today's mass rally, called by a wide array of anti-Morsi groups, continues to fill Cairo's Tahrir Square, where many protesters have been camped out since Friday. Protesters said they would not leave until Morsi's decree is scrapped entirely.

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