Egypt launches largest military base in Middle East

Egyptian President Abdel Fattah Al-Sisi yesterday inaugurated Bernice military base, the largest in the region of the red sea, official media has reported.

The inauguration ceremony was attended by several Arab and foreign officials and ministers, including the Crown Prince of Abu Dhabi and Deputy Supreme Commander of the United Arab Emirates (UAE) Armed Forces, Mohammed bin Zayed Sultan Al-Nahyan.

The 150,000-acre Bernice – one of Egypt’s newest military bases – is located on the Red Sea coast along Egypt’s southern borders and includes a naval base, an airbase, an army hospital, some combat and administrative units, and fields of shooting and training for all weapons.

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The base was reported to have aimed at “protecting and securing the southern Egyptian coasts, protecting economic investments and natural resources in the area, confronting security challenges within the Red Sea, and securing global navigation traffic through the Red Sea to the country’s Suez Canal and related economic areas.”

In 2017, Sisi inaugurated Egypt’s first Mohamed Naguib military base in the country’s eastern coastal province of Matrouh, which was said to be the largest in the Middle East.

During the ceremony, Sisi witnessed the conclusion of the nationwide military exercise codenamed ‘Kader 2020.” The training was said to have tested the strength and capacity of the Egyptian armed forces to secure the nation’s interests and wealth everywhere.