US army to send aerial backup to Sinai

The US Army’s Aviation Regiment has mobilized for deployment to Egypt’s Sinai Peninsula to back the Multinational Force and Observers (MFO) overseeing the Egypt-Israel peace treaty.

Connecticut National Guard Detachment 2, Company I, 185th Aviation Regiment of Groton left Connecticut on January 15 for Fort Benning, for further training and validation, a Press TV correspondent reported on Monday.

Fort Benning is a United States Army base located southeast of the city of Columbus in Alabama.

The unit, which has been deployed to the Middle East three times in the past seven years, has provided support for US and international forces stationed in war-torn Iraq and Afghanistan.

The unit operates C-23C Sherpa aircraft and will provide aviation support for the MFO commander.

The MFO is an international peacekeeping force overseeing the terms of the peace treaty between Egypt and Israel.

Egyptians protesting President Hosni Mubarak’s regime took to the streets for the seventh day of demonstrations on Monday despite the warnings and the presence of the army.

The uprising in the North African country is inspired by Tunisia’s protests, which forced former President Zine El-Abidine Ben Ali to flee the country.

More than 150 people have so far been killed and thousands others injured since the protests erupted on January 25, shaking Egypt to its core.

Embattled Mubarak has reportedly given his armed forces orders to shoot-to-kill anti-government protesters.

Military helicopters and F-16 fighter jets made low passes over Cairo’s Tahrir Square, which is one of the epicenters of the uprising, as the number of protesters kept rising on Sunday.

A column of tanks also rumbled into the vicinity in a show of strength, as Egyptian army snipers began targeting protesters in the capital Cairo.