Egypt opens largest military base in the Middle East

Egypt’s President Abdel Fattah Al-Sisi has inaugurated a military base in the northwest of the country to protect facilities and projects in its coastal cities.

The inauguration was aired on state TV with senior Arab officials present and took place a day before the 65th anniversary of the 23 July military coup which ended the monarchy’s rule.

The base was named after late President Mohammed Naguib, an Egyptian army officer, who became the country’s first president following the coup, and is located in the Marsa Matrouh governorate west of Alexandria. According to Egypt, the base will be the largest in the Middle East.

The Egyptian army also announced the opening of another base, called Barrani, close to the porous western border with Libya to prevent the infiltration of militants escaping from the war-ravaged country.

Read: Egypt, US military officials discuss developments in Libya