Leaders within Egypt’s security forces are reportedly meeting in private over concerns that the Islamic militancy growing under the Muslim Brotherhood could be a major disruption in moving the country forward.
The concern has been heightened by a bus bombing in Cairo and homicide car bombing at a police headquarters in Mansoura that killed 16 people.
“If this battlefront for militants becomes Cairo and urban centers, then the prospect for the security situation and the human toll becomes pretty grim,” Michael Hanna, an Egypt expert at the New York-based Century Foundation, told the Wall Street Journal.
While the government did not publicly blame anyone for the Thursday attack on the Cairo bus, the unspoken allegation ties it to the Muslim Brotherhood who was designated a terrorist organization by the Egyptian government on Wednesday.
U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry called Egypt’s foreign minister to express his concern about the Muslim Brotherhood being designated a terrorist group.
The first snowfall in 100 years fell in Cairo leaving adults in awe of the sight and children playing in snow dusted parks. Other parts of the city were pelted by rain and hail during the storm.
The winter storm that rolled through the Middle East brought three feet of snow to Israel making roads into Jerusalem impassable and leaving much of the country without power. The snow was so heavy in the West Bank that olive trees buckled under the weight of the snow.
The storm drove waves to the point it hammered the Egyptian Mediterranean coast and fisherman in Alexandria were warned by officials it was too dangerous to put out to sea.
Syrian refugees in Lebanon were hit particularly hard by the storm as constructed shelters were not designed to deal with heavy snowfall and bitter cold.
Masked gunmen on a motorcycle opened fire outside a church in a Cairo suburb on Sunday killing at least three people including an 8 year old child.
The terrorists reportedly shot randomly at the guests exiting the church and did not appear to be attempting to discern between Christians and other wedding guests.
A Coptic priest at the wedding told Reuters that he was inside the church when the gunfire began but rushed outside to find a dead man, a dead woman and many wounded wedding guests laying around the front of the church building.
Coptic Christians make up around ten percent of Egypt’s population and had been living in peace with the majority Muslims in the country for years. However, the Muslim Brotherhood told supporters that the Christians were behind the removal of Islamist President Mohammed Morsi on July 3rd and called for retaliation.
Analysts in the region say the violence against Christians in Egypt since the removal of Morsi and the government disbanding of Muslim Brotherhood protest camps on August 14th is unprecedented.
Egyptian police have raided and taken over the town of Kerdasa near Cairo that has been a stronghold of the Muslim Brotherhood. The raid was the second big move against a Brotherhood stronghold since Mohammed Morsi was removed in July.
Egyptian General Nabil Farrag was killed when Islamists opened fire from the rooftops of several schools and mosques that were under Muslim Brotherhood control. Continue reading →
Egypt’s state news agency is reporting that former President Mohammed Morsi has been referred to a Cairo criminal court for charges of committing and inciting deadly violence.
Morsi, along with 14 other members of the Muslim Brotherhood, are accused of inciting violence outside the presidential palace in December 2012. Continue reading →
A mob of Islamic extremists attacked a Franciscan church school, burning it to the ground, and forced nuns to be paraded around like trophies.
The Daily Mail reported police had warned the nuns that Islamic terror groups were targeting them under the false claim they had given “inappropriate education” to Muslim children. Continue reading →
Mohammed Badie, the most senior leader within the Muslim Brotherhood, has been taken under arrest in Cairo, Egypt according to BBC reports.
Badie was wanted for “incitement to violence and murder” in connection to the actions taken against police and security forces by those affiliated with the Muslim Brotherhood, specifically since the clearing of protest camps last Wednesday. Continue reading →
Nine people were killed during a series of protests lead by the Muslim Brotherhood. Local officials say that most of the dead were killed at a sit-in near Cairo University.
The pro-Morsi demonstrators were supporting claims by Morsi’s family that he had been abducted by the military. Morsi has been held at an undisclosed location since being removed as President on July 3. Continue reading →
At least 54 people were killed and over 400 wounded in a clash outside a military building in Cairo where Muslim Brotherhood affiliated protesters were demanding the return of Mohammed Morsi to power. Continue reading →
Tens of thousands marched on Cairo’s Tahrir Square and other cities calling for Islamic president Mohammed Morsi to be removed from office on the one-year anniversary of his inauguration.
Chants of “erhal!” (meaning “leave!”) rang out in the square. Islamist groups vowed to do anything it would take to keep Morsi in office. Continue reading →