On Dec. 5, thousands of Islamist supporters of Morsi descended on the area around the presidential palace where some 300 Morsi opponents were staging a sit-in. The Islamists chased the protesters away and tore down their tents.
After a lull in fighting, hundreds of Morsi opponents arrived at the scene and began throwing firebombs at the president's backers, who responded with rocks. The clashes continued early into the morning on Dec. 6, when Egyptian military deployed tanks and armored troop carriers in the area. - AP