Egypt’s military is taking down the makeshift tents of protesters who camped out on Tahrir Square in an effort to allow traffic and normal life to return to central Cairo.

There were a few verbal altercations between soldiers and protesters on Sunday morning as the tents were removed, but the process was generally peaceful.

The military has called on protesters to return home. Some of the demonstrators are refusing to clear out.

Protester Ashraf Ahmed said the military can tear down his tent, but that he’s not going to leave “because so much still needs to be done. They haven’t implemented anything yet.”

Traffic also returned for the first time in more than two weeks to Tahrir, which was the epicentre of 18 days of protests that toppled President Hosni Mubarak.

Soldiers entered the square Sunday morning and began removing the tents set up to shelter the protesters whose determined presence forced Mr. Mubarak to step down Friday and hand power to the military.

Hundreds of thousands of Egyptians celebrated his ouster in the square late Friday and Saturday before returning home, but hundreds remained Sunday, vowing to stay until Egypt’s new military rulers meet their demands for democratic reforms.

Scuffles broke out as some of the activists tried to resist the soldiers’ efforts to clear the tent camp.

A coalition of youth groups that organized the protests issued a list of demands Saturday, including the dissolution of the ruling party-dominated parliament and the lifting of a deeply unpopular emergency law installed by Mr. Mubarak when he took office in 1981.

Egypt’s military has promised to oversee a transition to a democratic, civilian government, but has given no timetable.

It also urged the pro-democracy activists to go home and allow normal life to resume after the 18 days of anti-government protests that caused major disruption to the Egyptian economy.