Members of Egypt's ruling Supreme Council of the Armed Forces (SCAF) gave a news conference Oct. 12 to address accusations that the military had killed demonstrators during a Coptic protest outside of the Maspero building Oct. 9. Maj. Gen. Mahmoud Hegazy denied that the army ever opened fire on Egyptian citizens, and Maj. Gen. Adel Emara denied the same allegations, claiming that the some 300 military personnel guarding the Maspero building during the protest were only carrying anti-riot gear and had no live ammunition. Emara at one point denied allegations that military vehicles had run over protesters but later said that while he could not deny that some people might have been hit, it was not "systematic." For the past four days, the SCAF had been silent about the state media reports that three soldiers were killed during the melee. State media had originally made the claims in its coverage of the event Oct. 9, reporting that Coptic demonstrators had targeted the soldiers with firearms. Members of the Egyptian Cabinet and the SCAF later denied there was any evidence that it was Copts who fired any shots, but members of both have since praised the manner in which state media covered the event. Until Oct. 12, neither the Cabinet nor the SCAF had denied that someone in the crowd fired shots at the military, and neither had spoken publicly about the fate of the soldiers allegedly killed Oct. 9. The silence about the soldiers was broken by a report published Oct. 12 by Egypt's official Middle East News Agency (MENA), which cited a military source who claimed the army had, that day, secretly buried an unspecified number of soldiers killed during the Maspero clashes. The Arabic word used in the report suggested that the dead numbered at least three, which is in line with the initial claims previously reported by state media. The military source reportedly told MENA that the SCAF had eschewed publicizing their names, as well as the exact number, in order to avoid "demoralizing" the armed forces. No official military funerals were held, according to the source, to avoid inflaming the public tensions created by the incident. Shortly after the MENA report was published, one SCAF member was asked during the news conference about why the military refrained from releasing such information on the issue. He reportedly replied that the names and number of soldiers killed would not be released in order to avoid creating additional tension. However, Egyptian media outlet Youm7, which is known to be pro-SCAF, reported Oct. 12 that at least one soldier has not yet been buried. According to this unconfirmed report, Egypt's military prosecution transferred the body of a soldier to the forensic department for examination Oct. 12. Chief Medical Examiner Ihsan Georgy was quoted as saying the soldier had been hit by live rounds at the Maspero protest. The SCAF's version of events shows that the full details of what actually happened at Maspero remain unknown. The death toll for protesters that day — some reports place the figure as high as 26 — raises questions about how the protesters were killed. Many likely were beaten to death by fellow civilians: Mobs of Muslim men arrived on the scene that night following the state media reports on the outbreak of violence and clashed with Copts. Members from both sides were killed. Others, however, likely were killed by security forces, despite the SCAF's claims to the contrary. Several videos show military-issued armored personnel carriers (APCs) moving at high speeds through the crowds, though the SCAF claims that this was because of the drivers' state of panic and was not deliberate. One video seems to show the muzzle flash of a soldier's rifle while the soldier was standing in a hatch in the back of an APC, with his rifle pointed toward a crowd at proximity, though this alone does not confirm homicidal intent on the soldier's part; it could have been an accidental discharge caused by the vehicle's abrupt movements, or the rifle could have contained rubber bullets. Still, the videos add to doubts regarding the validity of the SCAF's statements, especially considering the quantity of eyewitness reports and videos depicting security forces using violence against protesters that night. It is unclear why the SCAF has maintained so much secrecy regarding the deaths of the soldiers that night. It was the allegations that these deaths were the result of gunfire from the crowd that caused STRATFOR to claim that post-Mubarak Egypt had entered a new phase, as up until Oct. 9 violence against the military had been considered taboo by all aspects of the Egyptian opposition. In alleging that demonstrators (Coptic or not) instigated the violence and even killed members of their own military, the SCAF is making an assertion that could have severe repercussions for the anti-SCAF movement, and especially the Copts. The SCAF's official reasoning for not releasing the identities or total number of soldiers killed is to avoid demoralizing the armed forces. What is not clear to STRATFOR is how the admission that soldiers were killed does not do this anyway. Despite the anti-SCAF movement's claims, the protesters were not entirely peaceful Oct. 9. At some point they did clash with security forces. Just as videos depicting the military using violence against the protesters create doubts about the SCAF's claims, other videos clearly showing protesters beating soldiers do the same for the assertion that everyone demonstrating in Maspero that night was an innocent party. Both sides are still debating who instigated the violence.