CAIRO — Hundreds of Egyptian soldiers swept into Cairo’s Tahrir Square on Saturday, chasing protesters and beating them to the ground with sticks and tossing journalists’ TV cameras off balconies in the second day of a violent crackdown on anti-military protesters that has left eight dead and hundreds injured.

The violent, chaotic scenes have brought to the fore the simmering tensions between the ruling military council that took power after Hosni Mubarak’s ouster and activists demanding the generals transfer power immediately to civilians.

The clashes also serve as a near repeat of the deadly street fighting between youth protesters and security forces in November that lasted for days and left more than 40 dead.

Early Saturday, hundreds of protesters hurled stones at security forces who sealed off the streets around parliament with barbed wire and large concrete blocks.

Soldiers on rooftops pelted the crowds below with stones, prompting many of the protesters to pick up helmets, satellite dishes or sheets of metal to try to shield themselves.