Egypt govt. vows to crush Muslim Brotherhood

Egypt’s military-appointed government says it will use full force to crush the Muslim Brotherhood as a million-man march against the state oppression has been called.

On December 25, the government declared the Brotherhood a terrorist organization, blamed it for the December 24 bombing on a police headquarters that killed 16 people without investigating or providing any evidence.

“The organization continues its criminal activities despite its designation as a terrorist group,” the government said in a statement issued on Saturday.

The state “will confront the activities of this terrorist group with full force,” it said.

On Friday, tens of thousands of Brotherhood activists and their supporters staged nationwide demonstrations after Friday prayers against a violent crackdown by the army that toppled Morsi in July.

The demonstrators demanded Morsi’s reinstatement and called for the release of Brotherhood activists arrested by police. They also chanted slogans against army chief General Abdel Fattah al-Sisi.

Police killed at least 17 protesters and arrested about 258 others.

In response, the Anti-Coup Pro-Democracy Alliance, which is one of the largest political formations in Egypt, called for a “million-man march” on Wednesday.

“Continue your days of revolutionary rage and peaceful protest activities,” the alliance said Friday night in making its call.

Egypt has been experiencing unrelenting violence since July 3, when the army ousted Morsi’s government, suspended the constitution and dissolved the parliament. It also appointed the head of the Supreme Constitutional Court, Adly Mahmoud Mansour, as the new interim president.

The government of Mansour has launched a bloody crackdown on Morsi supporters and arrested more than 2,000 Muslim Brotherhood members.

About 1,000 people were killed in a week of violence between Morsi supporters and security forces after police dispersed their protest camps in a deadly operation in mid-August.

The massacre sparked international condemnation and prompted world bodies to call for an independent investigation into the violence.