CAIRO – Egyptian security forces Saturday fired tear gas from armored trucks at protesters demanding an end to military rule, as anger over a deadly soccer riot fueled a third day of clashes that have killed at least 12 people.

The violence followed a melee and stampede after a soccer match Wednesday in the Mediterranean city of Port Said in which 74 people died in the world’s worst soccer violence in 15 years. Protesters accuse the security forces of failing to prevent the bloodshed.

After two days of running street battles, clashes broke out again in downtown Cairo on Saturday as protesters marched on the Interior Ministry.

Security forces fired volleys of tear gas at rock-throwing protesters calling for the army to relinquish power and the execution of Egypt’s military ruler. The ministry has been a frequent target for the protesters because it is responsible for the widely distrusted police.

Rights groups and several newly elected members of parliament have called on the country’s military leader, Field Marshal Hussein Tantawi, who served as President Hosni Mubarak’s defense minister for 20 years and took power after Mubarak’s ouster last February, to immediately transfer power to a civilian administration. Some are also calling for presidential elections to be held in April rather than June.

Some protesters Saturday urged an end to the violence and called on people to leave the Interior Ministry area.

“If you love Egypt, return to the (Tahrir) square,” chanted protesters along the side streets of the ministry Saturday.

In the port city of Suez, protesters set up cordons outside the police headquarters to ban people from protesting around it and keep the calm after three days of violence there.