The planned 23 July march on the headquarters of the Supreme Council of the Armed Forces (SCAF) in Heliopolis started from Tahrir Square at about 5pm.

As we approached Abbassiya, we started receiving news that the military police and the army special forces had blocked the road by the Nour Mosque with machine gun-mounted armoured vehicles and barbed wire. We also received news there were “thugs” preparing Molotov cocktails and swords awaiting us.

The march was initially around 5,000 strong, but soon swelled to more than 20,000 protesters. Some put the figure at as many as 50,000.

Protesters were chanting beautifully rhymed slogans against SCAF, its chairman Mohamed Hussein Tantawi Soliman and police torture. They were chanting for social justice, bread and civil liberties. As we entered Abbassiya and passed by the cathedral, the promised 'thugs' did not appear. On the contrary, residents from the windows were cheering us, and some threw water bottles at the request of thirsty protesters. The scene reminded me of the Day of Rage march, except on that day we were heading to Tahrir to topple Hosni Mubarak – now we were marching on the same route in the opposite direction, to overthrow Mubarak’s loyal generals.

The army has been attacking our march for days on the state-run channels, accusing the Tahrir protesters of being 'thugs', 'foreign agents' etc. The army, according to Abbassiya residents I spoke to, had been going around the neighbourhood telling people that they 'will be attacked by foreign-paid thugs'. Those 'foreign-paid thugs' were of course, us.

As soon as we reached the Nour Mosque, we found rows of army soldiers and officers, with the interior ministry’s Central Security Forces lined behind them. We stood our ground, demanding they let us pass. We were refused. Chants started immediately against Tantawi. The attack started. Young men carrying swords and knives flocked to our right, while others were stoning us from the side streets. Army soldiers kept firing their machine guns into the air, to be followed later by a chopper circulating around our heads.

The army stood silent, watching the battleground, while the police threw rounds and rounds of teargas.

The clashes went on for hours. We were besieged: the army and the police on one side, with other people blocking our way back to Tahrir. Scores were injured and detained. I carried one protester whose left leg was dislocated to the nearby hospital, before my right leg was injured by some sort of projectile.

We managed to return to Tahrir in small groups late at night.