Two dead, 18 wounded in Cairo's Tahrir Square

W300

Two people were killed and at least 18 wounded early on Saturday when Egyptian military police stormed the capital's Tahrir Square to disperse protesters, medical sources told Agence France Presse.

The medics could not say if the wounded had been hit by bullets, and the deaths have still not been confirmed.

If confirmed, they would be the first reported deaths in the square since the February 11 ouster of President Hosni Mubarak.

A military official said he could not immediately confirm or deny whether there were any deaths, but added that the army did not use live rounds when dispersing the protesters.

"None of our forces used live fire. We used blanks," he said.

Protesters who remained in the square on Saturday morning had gathered both live ammunition casings, apparently shot by Kalashnikov assault rifles issued to military and police, as well as casings of what appeared to be blanks.

"We are investigating what happened," the military official said, adding the military would later hold a news conference on the incident.