Clashes in Cairo over Coptic protests

At least two soldiers have been killed and more than 20 people injured in riots that erupted in Cairo when Coptic Christians protesting against the recent destruction of a church came under attack.

The Copts were demonstrating outside the state television building in central Cairo on Sunday when they clashed with locals, according to Egyptian state television.

Military vehicles were set on fire and thick black smoke rose along the Nile outside the state television building, the state-run station reported.

During the protest, led by several Coptic bishops, the demonstrators burnt photos of Mustafa al-Sayed, the governor of Aswan.

The Coptic church in Merinab village was attacked after al-Seyyed was reported as saying Copts had built it without the required planning permission, according to state television.

Al Jazeera's Rawya Rageh, reporting from Cairo, said "utter chaos" prevailed in the centre of the capital.