Four years since the start of the Arab Spring in Egypt, a peaceful demonstration in Cairo marking the event was overshadowed by clashes between police and demonstrators.

The violent clash has claimed the lives of 18 demonstrators and injured50 others in Matiraya district, in the northern sector of the Egyptian capital of Cairo.

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Violence first turned deadly Sunday night when Islamist dissidents openly battled with police, killing 10 protesters while three died from a bomb explosion in Cairo. There were similar violent protest actions in Giza, in the Mediterranean city of Alexandria and a village in the Nile Delta.

The Arab Spring first happened in January 2011 when Egyptians marched on the streets demanding the resignation of then President Hosni Mubarak. Mubarak took the Presidency in 1981 until he stepped down in February 2011.

A transition government took over Egypt as democratic elections were called, which elected Mohamed Morsi as the next Egyptian President. Morsi is an active member of the radical Muslim Brotherhood and was later removed from office by the Egyptian military.

Since Morsi's removal until his incarceration, his supporters have been staging daily protests that often ended in violent encounters with authorities.

In 2014, the third anniversary of the Egyptian Arab Spring, 64 people were reported killed as a result of similar violent encounters.

Incumbent President Abdel Fattah Sisi has cracked down on demonstrations and succeeded until the eve of this year's anniversary where a fatal shooting in Tahir Square occurred and sparked the violence this Sunday.

Egyptian feminist leader Shaimaa El-Sabagh, of the Socialist Popular Alliance Party, died in Tahir Square on Saturday, at the center of where Egypt's Arab Spring started.

Her party mates called the killing premeditated, but the Interior Ministry denied the accusation saying the police had nothing to do with the death of Shaimaa.

TagsEgypt, Arab Spring, Mus;im Brotherhood