The clash between Coptic Christians and Salafi Muslims that left 12 people dead in Cairo over the weekend prompted a swift response from the Supreme Council of the Armed Forces that has run Egypt since February's ouster of former President Hosni Mubarak.
The violence represents a serious uptick in sectarian tensions within Egyptian society, and some are questioning the extent to which sinister elements from Mubarak's fallen regime may be playing a role in it.
"There is some concern, and there have been claims even that some of the things we've been seeing with regard to the sectarian clashes have been orchestrated by the previous regime," says Samer Shehata, an assistant professor of Arab politics at Georgetown University in Washington.