Sisi vows to crush terror after cops killing
cairo — In his first remarks after a deadly attack on the country’s police force, Egypt’s president vowed on Sunday to press ahead with the country’s war against terrorism, secure its borders and hunt down militants.
President Abdel Fattah Al Sisi remarks came nearly 48 hours after authorities officially announced that at least 16 policemen were killed in a brazen ambush by militants southwest of Cairo. Security officials told The Associated Press and other media outlets that the death toll reached 54, making it one of the worst attacks against Egypt’s police in years. However, it wasn’t immediately possible to reconcile the conflicting reports.
Chairing a meeting attended by
egypt will continue its confrontation against terrorism and those financing and standing behind it, with strength, decisiveness and efficiency, until it’s curbed Abdel Fattah Al Sisi, Egyptian President
the country’s top security officials, including defence and interior ministry representatives, Sisi said: “Egypt will continue its confrontation against terrorism and those financing and standing behind it, with strength, decisiveness and efficiency, until it’s curbed.”
His comments come as a cloud of ambiguity still hovers over the police raid gone wrong; a lack of information, charges of incompetence and conflicting accounts by officials to media outlets mark the incident. The ambush began when security forces acting on intelligence moved against a purported militant hideout some 135 kilometers outside Cairo.
Backed by armored personnel carriers and led by senior counterterrorism officers, the police contingent drew fire and rocketpropelled grenades, according to the security officials. What happened next has not been clarified, but many officers were killed and others injured. —