CAIRO — A full curfew was imposed by Egypt’s military across the northeastern Gaza-bordering towns of Rafah and Sheikh Zowayyed in the volatile Sinai Peninsula. Shops were forced to shut down and streets were blocked by military troops in anticipation of street battles between security forces and heavily armed supporters of ousted president Mohammed Morsi.
Several eyewitnesses told Al-Monitor that the curfew was imposed without prior notice or official announcement; it was enforced on Friday night as armed confrontations continued to escalate. The North Sinai Governorate headquarters based in the Mediterranean port of El-Arish was raided by dozens of armed Islamists in the aftermath of the Wednesday military coup led by Defense Minister Abdel Fattah al-Sisi that ousted the Muslim Brotherhood’s Morsi.
On Friday afternoon, a round of armed confrontation between Morsi’s supporters and security troops, both military and police, ended in a total fallback of security forces and the full occupation of the massive governor’s building by infuriated and heavily armed Islamists demanding the return of the deposed president.
Another round of confrontations kicked off as security forces attempted to take over the occupied building. El-Arish’s central hospital reported 30 injuries, including 3 policemen.
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