Deadly crackdown in Tahrir Square

>>> overseas now, to egypt, where tonight violent clashes are waging once again in tahrir square. egyptians are protesting military control and egyptian forces have responded with a deadly crackdown. our chief foreign correspondent richard engel joins us now from cairo . richard, good evening.

>> reporter: good evening, lester. parliamentary elections here are just one week away. but today's events could be the start of a new wave of violence. in the square where egypt's revolution began, today thousands of demonstrators came ready for a new political revolt. this time against the egyptian military . expecting clashes, protesters wore medical face masks. and gas masks . and they were right to be prepared. egyptian police fired tear gas and rubber bullets . dozens collapsed, overcome by the caustic fumes. clouds of tear gas now hang over parts of downtown cairo , but it isn't dispersing the crowd. these protesters insist they will continue to demonstrate in the streets until the egyptian military steps down. but what exactly are they protesting against? president mubarak stepped down nearly a year ago. but since then, the military has remained in power, maintained martial law , and fined thousands in military court . now the military wants to be completely free of civilian oversight. the military isn't transitioning to democracy as it promised. everything is still the same as it was as the old regime. they're still shooting at us like they did under mubarak, said another. when the tear gas didn't break up the demonstrators, at sunset hundreds of riot police and soldiers advanced to clear out tahrir square, with clubs, shields, armored personnel carriers and shotguns. a new battle was under way to keep protesters from returning, troops burned their tents. in minutes, there were casualties. cameras captured egyptian security forces dragging what appeared to be a dead protester and throwing the body in a pile of garbage. the military takeover of tahrir square was violent, but short lived. thousands of egyptians returned to the square. health officials tonight cite ten people were killed today and violence is now spreading outside of cairo to alexandria and suez.

>> richard engel in cairo for us. richard, thanks.