Egypt's Military Touts Anti-Terror Operation With Top-Line Weapons, Boats
The Egyptian Ministry of Defense said on February 9 it launched a military operation of unprecedented size to “crush terrorism” in the Sinai and secure points of entry into the country.
In this footage, the spokesperson for the Egyptian Army announced a comprehensive confrontation with criminal terrorist organizations in the Sinai and an operation by the coast guard and border forces to secure ports of entry to Egypt.
The footage highlights the Egyptian military’s top-of-the-line weaponry, including French Rafale fighters, US F-16 fighter-bombers, US Apache attack helicopters, a modern EADS transport aircraft, the Casa C-295, and US twin-rotored Chinook helicopters. Additionally, what appear to be dozens of US-made Abrams main battle tanks and the US-made M109 self-propelled howitzer are shown lined up in columns.
The operation comes less than two months before presidential elections in Egypt set for March 26, according to Reuters.
President Abdel-Fattah el-Sisi is expected to win, as most other potential contenders, such as Ahmed Shafiq and Egyptian Army Colonel Ahmed Konsowa have been pushed from the field.
Konsowa was sentenced by a military tribunal to six years in prison on December 19, after declaring his intention to run as a candidate for president. Members of the armed forces are barred by law from expressing political opinions in Egypt. Konsowa said he had submitted his resignation to the army in 2014 and it was denied.
El-Sisi wrote on his official Facebook page that he was following the military operation to eradicate terrorism from Egypt with pride. Credit: Egyptian Ministry of Defense via Storyful
