Pro-Mubarak Attackers

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Anderson Cooper Attacked By Protesters in Egypt

By John Mitchell | Posted Feb 2nd 2011 -- 10:45AM

Anderson Cooper and his crew were attacked by supporters of embattled Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak in Cairo early Wednesday, according to the Huffington Post. CNN Coverage Manager Steve Brusk tweeted that Cooper was "was punched 10 times in the head as pro-Mubarak mob surrounded him and his crew trying to cover demonstration."

Cooper was covering dueling demonstrations between pro-Mubarak supporters and those calling for the president to be removed from office when he and his crew came under attack. No major injuries were reported, and the anchor spoke to CNN's 'American Morning' early Wednesday about the attack. "My team were set upon by the crowd," Cooper said via telephone from a Cairo hotel. "There was no rhyme or reason to it -- it was just people looking for a fight, looking to make a point and punching us."

"They at first started going for the cameras; they didn't want any pictures taken," Cooper said. "The crowd kept growing, kept throwing punches, kicks ... suddenly a young man would look at you and punch you in the face."

CNN issued an update this morning indicating there were no serious injuries sustained during the attack. Cooper and his crew had been trying to steer clear of the protesters by remaining in a neutral zone between the two groups. But as the size of the crowd increased, the situation became less stable, resulting in violence between the two factions in the increasingly unstable country.

"Anderson Cooper witnessed a huge crowd of Mubarak supporters surge across a no-man's land dividing them from the anti-Mubarak crowd and overturn a military vehicle on the street as a huge roar went up. A large cloud of smoke arose at the east entrance to Tahrir Square," CNN wrote. "Military vehicles were separating pro- and anti-Mubarak demonstrators, and several gasoline bombs had been tossed."

Major anti-government protests began in Egypt on Jan. 25 -- the "Day of Anger," also National Police Day -- and have escalated in size and violence since. Millions have turned out to demand President Mubarak and his regime's immediate removal from office amid allegations of abuse of power and corruption within his administration. More recently, however, supporters of the president have turned out to stage counter protests that have become extremely violent, with the two sides attacking each other with stones, bottles and sticks and the Egyptian military forced to police the situation.