Egypt’s prime minister said some of the thousands of people involved in days of protests near the U.S. Embassy got paid to riot, state news reported Saturday.

Prime Minister Hesham Kandil said “a number” of those involved in the violent protests, which began Tuesday, later confessed to getting paid to participate, according to the state-run Middle East News Agency.

Kandil added that some of the demonstrators were acting on their own accord and were not paid to participate in the riots.

Kandil did not say whether the government knew or suspected who paid the demonstrators, according to the MENA report.