During a violent dispersal of a protest near Egypt's Ministry of Interior in Cairo, a woman wearing a gas mask and goggles treats a boy for tear gas injuries using very basic equipment - probably cotton wool and a bottle of water, possibly mixed with sodium metabisulphate, which can help neutralise the effects of tear gas on the eyes.

You might also notice on the left coils of barbed wire - the remains of an army erected blockade dismantled earlier by protesters.

In the background you can see clouds of tear gas marking the junction of Mohamed Mahmoud with Mansour street, a junction which witnessed repeated clashes between riot police and protesters angry over the perceived complicity of security forces in the murder of 79 Ahly football fans at Port Said stadium three days earlier.

According to Amnesty International a shipment of seven tons of "ammunition smoke" - which "included chemical irritants and riot control agents such as tear gas" had been delivered to Egypt from the United States just 10 weeks earlier on 26 November. It was the third such shipment by the U.S. company Combined Systems since the 25 January uprising.

<a href="http://www.amnesty.org.uk/press-releases/usa-repeatedly-shipped-arms-egyptian-security-forces-despite-abuses" rel="nofollow">www.amnesty.org.uk/press-releases/usa-repeatedly-shipped-...</a>

With regards to these particular protests Amnesty commented -

"Between 2 and 6 February, the Ministry of Interior’s Central Security Forces (riot police) used excessive force, including firearms, to disperse protests, killing at least 16 people and injuring hundreds of others. "

and the same report also observed -

"Amnesty International delegates witnessed riot police relentlessly firing tear gas at groups of anti-SCAF protesters standing in Cairo's Mansur Street and Mohamed Mahmoud Street, both of which lead to the Ministry of Interior and which witnessed the worst clashes. ... Riot police used tear gas disproportionately in incidents when protesters did not represent an imminent danger to safety. They gave no warnings before firing tear gas canisters. "

The organization also said that doctors and witnesses saw riot police firing tear gas directly at field hospitals set up to help those wounded.

<a href="https://www.amnesty.ie/news/egypt-systematic-failure-rein-security-forces" rel="nofollow">www.amnesty.ie/news/egypt-systematic-failure-rein-securit...</a>