Egyptian police fire tear gas at pro-Morsi students in Cairo

Egyptian riot police have fired tear gas to disperse students protesting against the military-backed government outside Cairo’s Ain Shams University, security sources say.

Egyptian security forces fired tear gas at dozens of university students outside the campus while the students were trying to boost their protest to the nearby Defense Ministry building.

Dozens of students pelted security forces with rocks, some picking up tear gas canisters and throwing them back.

Some of the students wearing face masks also used metal bars and garbage cans to build barricades.

The students have been demonstrating outside Ain Shams University in eastern Cairo as part of a spreading protest movement in universities against the current interim authorities.

The protesters managed to take their march outside the university campus and blocked a main road as they chanted slogans against the military-installed government.

A number of students were arrested after demonstrators threw rocks at security forces.

Al-Azhar University and University of Cairo have been scene of violent protests in recent months after the start of the academic year in September.

The developments come as demonstrations by Morsi’s supporters against the government are still being held across Egypt despite the interim authorities’ efforts to widen crackdown on Morsi backers.

Meanwhile, an anti-coup alliance has said that it will boycott next month’s vote on the country’s new constitution.

The Muslim Brotherhood-led alliance has repeatedly rejected the draft charter together with the rest of the army-led transition plan, calling it a product of a military coup.

The group has also pledged to organize a campaign against the vote.

Muslim Brotherhood says that the constitution runs contrary to the objectives of the 2011 revolution that ended decades of rule by former dictator, Hosni Mubarak.

Tensions in Egypt have been running high since Morsi was ousted on July 3. Hundreds have lost their lives in the ensuing violence across the country.