Egypt's security forces have arrested 43 students amid university protests while at least 25 others were expelled or sent to disciplinary boards in the latest on-campus unrest on Wednesday.
Students, mainly supporters of ousted Islamist President Mohamed Morsi, held near-daily protests last year, usually ending in clashes with the police or opponents. At least 19 students were killed, according to tallies by rights groups. The violence regenerated with the new academic year, killing one student in Alexandria University.
A security source told Al-Ahram’s Arabic news website on Wednesday that five explosive devices were dismantled at Fayoum University.
At Al-Azhar University’s Assiut branch, police arrested 13 students as the protesters shot fireworks and pelted the forces with rocks.
Students originally demonstrated on campus and then tried to expand beyond campus grounds. Security forces at the gates stopped them, firing tear gas and arresting some of them.
At Beni Suef University, six students were referred to the disciplinary board for participating in a march on campus that included dozens of students and chants against the military and police, according to state news agency MENA.
Students allegedly held Rabaa signs, which refer to the main sit-in camp of pro-Morsi protesters that was forcefully disbanded last year. The dispersal killed hundreds and the sign became a mark of defiance.
The agency said the signs violated the "law and university norms."
In Zagazig University, four students were temporarily expelled for one academic year and 15 others were sent to a disciplinary board.
Elsewhere in the Nile Delta city of Kafr El-Sheikh, dozens of female students, allegedly supporting the Muslim Brotherhood, protested in their Al-Azhar University campus, denouncing the detention of their fellow students.
At Minya University, students gathered in front of the administration building and pelted rocks and shot fireworks.
Others students were arrested in Alexandria and Menoufia, where flyers inciting authorities were distributed.
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