CAIRO (AP) -- In Egypt, flames have lit up downtown Cairo, where
massive clashes raged Sunday, pitting Christians angry over a recent church attack against Muslims and Egyptian security forces. At least 24 people are dead and more than 200 injured in the worst sectarian violence since the uprising that ousted Hosni Mubarak in February.

The rioting lasted late into the night, bringing out a deployment of more than 1,000 security forces and armored vehicles to defend the state television building, where the trouble began.

The clashes spread to nearby Tahrir Square, drawing thousands of
people to the vast plaza that served as the epicenter of the protests that ousted Mubarak. On Sunday night, they battled each other with rocks and firebombs, some tearing up pavement for ammunition and others collecting stones in boxes.

After midnight, mobs roamed downtown streets, attacking cars they suspected had Christian passengers.

Christians, who make up about 10 percent of Egypt's 80 million people, blame the country's ruling military council for being too lenient on those behind a spate of anti-Christian attacks since
Mubarak's ouster. The Coptic Christian minority is particularly worried about the show of force by ultraconservative Islamists.

(Copyright 2011 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)