Egypt’s Sisi prays alongside top generals, officials on ‘Martyrs’ Day’

Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi prayed alongside top military commanders and state officials at the Field Marshal Hussein Tantawi Mosque in New Cairo on Friday, as part of the celebration of the armed forces’ “martyrs’ day”.

The president listened to a sermon delivered by Grand Mufti Shawky Allam on the heroic sacrifices of the country’s army and security forces in services of protecting the nation.

The day is celebrated in Egypt in remembrance of Lieutenant General Abdel-Moneim Riyad, an Egyptian army chief of staff and veteran commander who was killed along with several of his aides in an Israeli mortar attack on 9 March 1969 during the War of Attrition.

Last month, Sisi praised and honoured policemen killed in recent years in a celebration marking Police Day, saying that Egypt is fighting a vicious war, and the whole world knows that it is fighting it alone.

He said Egypt has been fighting a 40-month war fought by men who took the responsibility to protect Egyptians, and called on people to support security and state institutions.

The Egyptian army and police have been battling an entrenched Islamist insurgency for several years in North Sinai, with hundreds of security forces killed in the process.

Source: Ahram online