In a similar scene reminiscent of the celebrations post the 2011 ouster of Egyptian autocrat Hosni Mubarak, millions of anti-Mohamed Morsi protesters sprang in joy after the army chief announced on Wednesday the end of the president's rule.
The Egyptian military on Wednesday toppled the country's first democratically elected president, Mohamed Morsi, and suspended the Islamist-drafted constitution after days of mass protests against him, alleging that he has given too much power to Islamists besides failing to restore economic stability.
Egyptian Armed Forces Commander in Chief Abdel-Fattah al-Sissi's announcement of Morsi's ouster was welcomed by millionsacross the country. Crowds thronged to Cairo's Tahrir Square, the epi-centre of protests, to celebrate the end of Morsi's reign. Fireworks lit up the skies, crowds cheered and waving flags were seen everywhere.
"We want a better future, a better economy," Riham Adel, a 28-year-old secretary who joined the throngs in Tahrir Square, told Los Angeles Times. "We don't want to be so divided and polarized, and this is what the Muslim Brotherhood and Morsi did to us."
There was apprehension on law and order situation in the country amid celebrations as many feared clash between the armed forces and Morsi supporters. Security officials said that at least nine people were killed after Islamists opened fire on police.
Army personnel have been stationed in several places to ensure that there was no law and order problem.
The ousted president has appealed to his supporters to adhere to peace and avoid violence even as he denounced the move of the armed forces, terming it as a coup that was rejected by all free men of the country.
Muslim Brotherhood party spokesman Gehad el-Haddad has said that Morsi and 12 of his aides were under house arrest.
The armed forces have announced a roadmap for the next government and assured early elections after toppling the president and temporarily suspending the constitution on Wednesday. They announced that Supreme Constitutional Court chief justice Adly Mansour will be the interim president until new elections are held.
