Police forces arrested 13 rioters during clashes that broke out at the Azhar Mosque on Friday noon, a senior security source at the Ministry of Interior said.

The Egyptian state television earlier reported that police forces arrested six Syrians and one Palestinian after they assaulted security forces in front of the mosque in Cairo's Gammaleya area.

The source denied that six Syrians and one Palestinian were arrested in the clashes, the Middle East News Agency reported.

Violent clashes broke out earlier between supporters of former president Mohamed Mursi and residents of the al-Hussein area.

Some pro-Mursi supporters chanted anti-armed forces slogans which prompted the area's residents to retaliate with pro-armed forces slogans.

The clashes caused traffic to come to a halt in the Azhar area.