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Human Rights Watch is reporting that at least 302 people have died in Egypt since pro-Mubarak forces launched a violent response to the popular uprising last month.

The group says at least 232 people have died in Cairo, 52 in Alexandria, and 18 in Suez, but warns the actual death toll could be far higher.

Numerous Arab governments have used violence to quash demonstrations in the wake of mass protests in Egypt, the report says.

"Images of the uprisings in Tunisia and Egypt have mesmerized the Arab public but have terrified their rulers," Sarah Leah Whitson, the group's Middle East and North Africa director, said in a statement. "They have responded with their usual mix of repression and intimidation to nip the buds of any wider democratic blossoming."

"Witnesses told Human Rights Watch that regular police and 'special forces,' identifiable by their uniforms, punched, kicked, and detained participants, as well as at least two journalists and a Human Rights Watch research assistant," the report said.