Egyptian security forces and student protesters have once again clashed at several universities across the country.


Cairo’s al-Azhar University became the scene of violent confrontations on Wednesday after students gathered outside the faculty of medicine against police presence on campus.

They also set the office of security personnel ablaze before security forces used tear gas to disperse the crowd.

Protesters then took to nearby streets and blocked off a road, which led to a police chase.

Student protesters at the university’s branch in Asyut also set a school bus ablaze and surrounded the general secretariat building.

Student protests have also been reported in Alexandria and Fayoum.

Al-Azhar University has been the scene of clashes between supporters of ousted President Mohamed Morsi and police since the start of the academic year last August.

A court in Cairo on Wednesday sentenced 10 students and three professors from the university to three years in prison for “illegal protests”.

The army-backed government has detained hundreds of students since the ouster of Morsi in July last year. More than 500 people have also been handed death sentences and hundreds of others have been handed lengthy jail terms.

Several international bodies and the United Nations Human Rights Council have expressed concern over the Egyptian security forces’ heavy-handed crackdown and the killing of peaceful anti-government protesters.

Rights groups say at least 1,400 people have been killed in the violence, "most of them due to excessive force used by security forces."