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28 January 2011
Last updated at 13:09 ET
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Police used tear gas and water cannons to disperse the crowds, who responded by attacking police vehicles
Egypt has extended its curfew to all cities as anti-government demonstrators in Cairo besiege key buildings, including the foreign ministry and the state broadcaster.
The headquarters of the governing NDP party has been set ablaze.
President Hosni Mubarak, facing the biggest challenge to his authority of his 31 years in power, has ordered the army onto the streets of Cairo.
He is due to make a statement, his first since protests began on Tuesday.
Across the country, tens of thousands of protesters turned out after Friday prayers and clashed with police.
The curfew is now in effect, but live television pictures from Cairo continue to show large crowds on the streets.
BBC Arabic correspondent Khaled Ezzelarab, in Cairo, says despite the curfew, demonstrators are surrounding the building of Egyptian radio and television and trying to break into it.
The building is guarded by armed forces and the demonstrators are cheering for the army, while the latter is not getting into confrontations with the people, he says.
Water cannon Continue reading the main story Analysis
This is a serious challenge to the regime of Hosni Mubarak. His security forces are strong, funded by billions of dollars of aid from the United States.
But the fact that tens of thousands of protesters have been prepared to defy a ban on demonstrations and take to the streets is what matters. It means that the Egyptian people are losing their fear of the police state, some of them at least, inspired by events in Tunisia where street protests brought down an unpopular, authoritarian president.
Egyptians share the frustrations of Tunisians who were sick of corruption and repression and their inability to affect the government's actions. But the regime here in Egypt is much stronger.
Unlike the old system in Tunisia, it's founded on the strength of the military, which seized power in a coup in 1952. Since then, Egypt has had three leaders, Nasser, Sadat and Mubarak; all came from the armed forces.
The news that curfews are being imposed in major cities indicates that the president is taking the advice of his security chiefs, that they can handle the trouble on the streets.
The question now is whether President Mubarak will follow that with political concessions. He hasn't in 30 years; he tends to buy off protests with cuts in food prices and by increasing subsidies. That might not be enough this time.
Internet and phone services - both mobile and landline - have been severely disrupted, although protesters are using proxies to work around the restrictions.
Mobile operator Vodafone Egypt said in a statement: "All mobile operators in Egypt have been instructed to suspend services in selected areas. Under Egyptian legislation the authorities have the right to issue such an order and we are obliged to comply with it."
Reports say Egyptian opposition figure Mohamed ElBaradei has been placed under house arrest. Earlier, he was soaked by water cannon and surrounded by police as he joined protesters on the streets of Cairo.
In Sinai on Friday night, BBC Arabic - quoting one of its trusted sources - said Bedouins were besieging the Sheikh Zoueid police station, calling for the police to surrender.
Also in Sinai, the BBC Arabic source said armed men took control of the road leading into the town of Rafah, in the Gaza Strip, and they have been able to take a number of policemen hostages.
US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton has appealed to Egypt to do "everything" to restrain the security forces, urging the government to reverse its block on mobile phone and internet communications.
She also said the protesters should not use violence.
The US counts Egypt as an ally in the Middle East and has so far been cautious about taking sides.
UK Foreign Secretary William Hague said authorities in Egypt should not seek to "suppress people's right to freedom of expression".
Inspired by Tunisia At least eight people have been killed and dozens injured since the protests against unemployment, corruption and rising prices began on Tuesday. Up to 1,000 people have been arrested.
The unrest follows an uprising in Tunisia two weeks ago, in which President Zine al-Abidine Ben Ali was toppled after 23 years in power.
Egypt has many of the same social and political problems that brought about the unrest in Tunisia - rising food prices, high unemployment and anger at official corruption.
After Friday prayers, tens of thousands of people joined protests in Cairo and other cities to demand the end of Mr Mubarak's 30-year rule.
They shouted, "Down, down with Mubarak" and, "The people want the regime to fall".
At several locations, riot police responded by firing rubber bullets and tear gas, and by using water cannon. BBC Arabic reporter Assad Sawey, in Cairo, said he was arrested and beaten by plainclothes policemen.
"They took my camera away and when they arrested me, they started beating me with steel bars, the ones used here for slaughtering animals," he said.
There were also reports of clashes between protesters and police in Alexandria, Mansoura and Aswan, as well as Minya and Assiut south of Cairo, and al-Arish in the Sinai peninsula.
Are you in Egypt? Are you taking part in a protest? Send us your pictures and comments using the form below.
Send your pictures and videos to yourpics@bbc.co.uk or text them to 61124 (UK) or +44 7725 100 100 (International). If you have a large file you can upload here.
Read the terms and conditions
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Please turn on JavaScript. Media requires JavaScript to play.Police used tear gas and water cannons to disperse the crowds, who responded by attacking police vehicles
Egypt has extended its curfew to all cities as anti-government demonstrators in Cairo besiege key buildings, including the foreign ministry and the state broadcaster.
The headquarters of the governing NDP party has been set ablaze.
President Hosni Mubarak, facing the biggest challenge to his authority of his 31 years in power, has ordered the army onto the streets of Cairo.
He is due to make a statement, his first since protests began on Tuesday.
Across the country, tens of thousands of protesters turned out after Friday prayers and clashed with police.
The curfew is now in effect, but live television pictures from Cairo continue to show large crowds on the streets.
BBC Arabic correspondent Khaled Ezzelarab, in Cairo, says despite the curfew, demonstrators are surrounding the building of Egyptian radio and television and trying to break into it.
The building is guarded by armed forces and the demonstrators are cheering for the army, while the latter is not getting into confrontations with the people, he says.
Water cannon Continue reading the main story Analysis
This is a serious challenge to the regime of Hosni Mubarak. His security forces are strong, funded by billions of dollars of aid from the United States.
But the fact that tens of thousands of protesters have been prepared to defy a ban on demonstrations and take to the streets is what matters. It means that the Egyptian people are losing their fear of the police state, some of them at least, inspired by events in Tunisia where street protests brought down an unpopular, authoritarian president.
Egyptians share the frustrations of Tunisians who were sick of corruption and repression and their inability to affect the government's actions. But the regime here in Egypt is much stronger.
Unlike the old system in Tunisia, it's founded on the strength of the military, which seized power in a coup in 1952. Since then, Egypt has had three leaders, Nasser, Sadat and Mubarak; all came from the armed forces.
The news that curfews are being imposed in major cities indicates that the president is taking the advice of his security chiefs, that they can handle the trouble on the streets.
The question now is whether President Mubarak will follow that with political concessions. He hasn't in 30 years; he tends to buy off protests with cuts in food prices and by increasing subsidies. That might not be enough this time.
Internet and phone services - both mobile and landline - have been severely disrupted, although protesters are using proxies to work around the restrictions.
Mobile operator Vodafone Egypt said in a statement: "All mobile operators in Egypt have been instructed to suspend services in selected areas. Under Egyptian legislation the authorities have the right to issue such an order and we are obliged to comply with it."
Reports say Egyptian opposition figure Mohamed ElBaradei has been placed under house arrest. Earlier, he was soaked by water cannon and surrounded by police as he joined protesters on the streets of Cairo.
In Sinai on Friday night, BBC Arabic - quoting one of its trusted sources - said Bedouins were besieging the Sheikh Zoueid police station, calling for the police to surrender.
Also in Sinai, the BBC Arabic source said armed men took control of the road leading into the town of Rafah, in the Gaza Strip, and they have been able to take a number of policemen hostages.
US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton has appealed to Egypt to do "everything" to restrain the security forces, urging the government to reverse its block on mobile phone and internet communications.
She also said the protesters should not use violence.
The US counts Egypt as an ally in the Middle East and has so far been cautious about taking sides.
UK Foreign Secretary William Hague said authorities in Egypt should not seek to "suppress people's right to freedom of expression".
Inspired by Tunisia At least eight people have been killed and dozens injured since the protests against unemployment, corruption and rising prices began on Tuesday. Up to 1,000 people have been arrested.
The unrest follows an uprising in Tunisia two weeks ago, in which President Zine al-Abidine Ben Ali was toppled after 23 years in power.
Egypt has many of the same social and political problems that brought about the unrest in Tunisia - rising food prices, high unemployment and anger at official corruption.
After Friday prayers, tens of thousands of people joined protests in Cairo and other cities to demand the end of Mr Mubarak's 30-year rule.
They shouted, "Down, down with Mubarak" and, "The people want the regime to fall".
At several locations, riot police responded by firing rubber bullets and tear gas, and by using water cannon. BBC Arabic reporter Assad Sawey, in Cairo, said he was arrested and beaten by plainclothes policemen.
"They took my camera away and when they arrested me, they started beating me with steel bars, the ones used here for slaughtering animals," he said.
There were also reports of clashes between protesters and police in Alexandria, Mansoura and Aswan, as well as Minya and Assiut south of Cairo, and al-Arish in the Sinai peninsula.
Are you in Egypt? Are you taking part in a protest? Send us your pictures and comments using the form below.
Send your pictures and videos to yourpics@bbc.co.uk or text them to 61124 (UK) or +44 7725 100 100 (International). If you have a large file you can upload here.
Read the terms and conditions
Powered By WizardRSS