The Egyptian government headed by Prime Minister Isam Sharaf on Monday stepped down in the wake of the mass-scale protests in Cairo. Local media reported that the Supreme Military Council has accepted the Cabinet’s resignation but tensions have remained high.

Clashes between protesters and security forces have left at least 44 people injured in Ismailiya city. Police fired tear gas to protesters, who threw stones to police, chanting their demand that the Supreme Military Council resign and hand over power to a civil government.

Earlier, thousands of protesters gathered in Cairo’s Tahrir Square and some major areas in Egypt to demand the step down of Chairman of the Supreme Military Council Mohammad Hussein Tatanwi, who served as Defence Minster under former President Hosni Mubarak for 20 years.