Egypt Shakes Up Security Forces After Deadly Ambush of Police
- 7 years ago
Egypt Shakes Up Security Forces After Deadly Ambush of Police
29, 2017
CAIRO — Egypt carried out a sweeping reshuffle of its security forces, removing a dozen senior police
and military officials from critical posts just a week after an ambush by militants killed at least 16 policemen in the desert outside Cairo.
Egyptian security officials told several news outlets, including The New York Times,
that the ambush attack killed over 50 policemen, but the Egyptian Interior Ministry insisted that only 16 died.
Mr. Sisi’s campaign against armed Islamist groups began in July 2013, shortly after he, as military
chief at the time, ousted Mohamed Morsi, an Islamist president, amid mass protests.
Saturday’s shake-up included the dismissal of Mahmoud Hegazy, the military chief of staff; 11 police generals, including the security chief of Giza, the area where the attack occurred;
and the head of the National Security Agency, the police’s intelligence division.
Mr. Hegazy, whose daughter is married to a son of President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi, was appointed
to a new position as crisis management adviser to the president, the military statement said.
But Egyptian security officials said the reorganization was prompted by the devastating
attack, which targeted a police convoy inside the country’s western desert on Oct. 20.
29, 2017
CAIRO — Egypt carried out a sweeping reshuffle of its security forces, removing a dozen senior police
and military officials from critical posts just a week after an ambush by militants killed at least 16 policemen in the desert outside Cairo.
Egyptian security officials told several news outlets, including The New York Times,
that the ambush attack killed over 50 policemen, but the Egyptian Interior Ministry insisted that only 16 died.
Mr. Sisi’s campaign against armed Islamist groups began in July 2013, shortly after he, as military
chief at the time, ousted Mohamed Morsi, an Islamist president, amid mass protests.
Saturday’s shake-up included the dismissal of Mahmoud Hegazy, the military chief of staff; 11 police generals, including the security chief of Giza, the area where the attack occurred;
and the head of the National Security Agency, the police’s intelligence division.
Mr. Hegazy, whose daughter is married to a son of President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi, was appointed
to a new position as crisis management adviser to the president, the military statement said.
But Egyptian security officials said the reorganization was prompted by the devastating
attack, which targeted a police convoy inside the country’s western desert on Oct. 20.