CAIRO, Aug. 16 (UPI) -- Egyptian security forces used force to disperse a group of some 50 protesters outside the Libyan Embassy in Cairo late Monday night, witnesses said.
The upscale neighborhood of Zamalek broke into chaos as security forces and army soldiers beat protesters with truncheons, batons and used stun guns to roust them, the Egyptian newspaper al-Masry al-Youm reported.
The demonstrators were mostly Libyan expatriates and Egyptians of Libyan descent who oppose the government of Libyan leader Moammar Gadhafi.
Aida al-Kashef, a filmmaker who lives in the neighborhood, said she heard gunshots when she was parking her car near the Libyan Embassy.
"There were a lot of women and children and (the protesters) were beaten really badly," she said. "They were beaten by the police and the army together."
Al-Kashef said groups of 10 to 15 soldiers would gang up on a single demonstrator.
The goal of the demonstration wasn't clear, al-Masry al-Youm reported.
The newspaper said protesters detailed various goals and grievances with the Libyan Embassy.
