Cairo: Fresh clashes erupted on Saturday between army forces and anti-military protesters after a brief lull near Tahrir Square in central Cairo.
Dozens of protesters, removed Friday from outside the nearby cabinet building, threw stones at the army forces who responded by using water cannons.
A blaze, meanwhile, broke out in a library building near the scene of the clashes along Al Qasri Al Eini, a seat to many vital state institutions.
Another fire was reported inside part of the cabinet headquarters where the protesters had camped for weeks before they were forced to leave on Friday.
The clashes left eight people dead and more than 300 injured, said Hesham Shaheeh, the undersecretary of the health minister, said on Saturday. He added that five of the injured people were in unstable condition.
The new violence brought the country's military rulers under criticism over the use of violence against the protesters. Eight members of a 30-strong advisory council, set up by the military janta early this month, resigned in protest against using "unjustified violence" against the demonstrators.
The military rulers, who took over after a popular revolt toppled long-standing president Hosni Mubarak in February, claimed that Friday's clashes had been triggered by an attack from protesters on an army officer guarding the cabinet building.
For their part, the protesters attributed the clashes to an alleged attack by the military forces on one of them.
Last month, 45 people were killed in clashes between security forces and anti-military protesters near Tahrir Square, the epicentre of the anti-Mubarak uprising.
