CAIRO
By Hussein Qabani
The official spokesperson for the family of ousted president Mohamed Morsi, the Muslim Brotherhood movement and its Freedom and Justice Party on Saturday mourned in three separate statements the death of 30 Egyptian troops in an attack on a military site in Egypt's Sinai Peninsula on Friday.
In a message on his Facebook page, Osama Mohamed Morsi described the attack against the Egyptian troops as a "horrible crime."
He said what he called the "coup authorities" were responsible for the death of the troops.
Around 30 Egyptian troops were killed and dozens of others injured on Friday during an attack on a military site in the Sinai Peninsula. The attack put Egypt in a mourning mood soon after its news was announced.
The Muslim Brotherhood movement, meanwhile, described the attack as a "massacre," offering its condolences to the families of the victims.
The movement too said it held the authorities and Egyptian President Abdel-Fattah al-Sisi responsible for the death of the troops.
It rejected calls for evacuating the residents of the Sinai Peninsula, saying these residents had always been the "first line of defense" for the northeastern peninsula.
The Muslim Brotherhood's Freedom and Justice Party also condemned the attack, warning against taking the lives of Egyptian troops lightly.
Egyptian authorities on Saturday closed down the Rafah crossing on the border between Egypt's Sinai Peninsula and the Gaza Strip.
Egyptian President Abdel-Fattah al-Sisi said on Saturday that his country would take measures on the border with the Gaza Strip so that it could "totally eradicate" terrorism.
He added that there would be "many" measures, even without disclosing the nature of these measures.
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