Cairo: Egyptian security officials say at least 25 protesters and 10 policemen have died in this week's anti-government protests.
They say the death toll was likely to significantly rise as more reports come in from hospitals and morgues around the country. They also say that at least 750 policemen and 1,500 protesters have been wounded in clashes.
The officials were speaking Saturday on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to share the information with the media.
The protests are the most serious challenge to President Hosni Mubarak's 30-year authoritarian rule. Mubarak, in an attempt to contain the unrest, said on Friday he was firing his Cabinet and sent army troops out to the streets to restore order, but protests and a wave of looting are continuing.
Hundreds of anti-government protesters returned Saturday to the streets of central Cairo, chanting slogans against Hosni Mubarak and attacking police just hours after the Egyptian president fired his Cabinet and promised reforms but refused to step down.
The sight of protesters pouring into Cairo's downtown Tahrir Square and clashing with police for a fifth day indicated Mubarak's words in a televised speech shortly after midnight had done little to cool the anger over Egypt's crushing poverty, unemployment and corruption.
Over five days of protests — the largest Egypt has experienced in decades — crowds have overwhelmed police forces in Cairo and other cities around the nation with their numbers and in attacks with rocks and firebombs.
Overnight, the government called in military forces and by morning the army had replaced police in guarding government buildings and other key areas around the capital.