Cairo: Men in plain clothes, armed with knives, attacked pro-democracy activists outside the interior ministry in Cairo.
It is the first such attack since the fall of Hosni Mubarak last month, reports say.
Protesters have stormed ministry and secret police offices to obtain documents they say show evidence of repression under the former president.
New PM Essam Sharaf has vowed to reform the security apparatus and has named a cabinet to govern until elections.
On Sunday, men in plain clothes armed with swords and petrol bombs confronted the pro-democracy activists after soldiers dispersed a Cairo rally they were holding to demand reform of the security services, eyewitnesses say.
“The army started firing in the air to disperse us,” Mohammed Fahmy told media.
“We tried to run away but we were met by 200 thugs in plain clothes carrying sharp weapons.”
Fahmy put the number of protesters at 2,000.
Dismantling the security apparatus has been one of the key demands of the protest movement.
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