Egypt's Crackdown Widens, But Insurgency Still Burns
Here are three numbers that tell the story of Egypt's security crackdown, its political turmoil and the simmering insurgency.
16,687. It's estimated that at least this many political detainees have been imprisoned since the military ousted the Islamist president, Mohammed Morsi, last July 3.
4,482. At least this many people have been killed in clashes since Morsi's ouster, many at the hands of security forces.
198. That's the number of people killed, mostly security force members, in armed attacks on the police and army between July and November 2013. Many more have died since.
These estimates by the Egyptian Center of Economic and Social Rights highlight the killings, insurgent attacks, mass arrests and point to the chronic tensions in what the government says is a war for survival against terrorists.
But analysts say oppressive practices by the military-backed government have encouraged more extreme actions by jihadists — and they predict that the attacks on the state will likely grow.
"The overthrow of Mohammed Morsi created a new narrative for Islamists, both nonviolent Islamists who opposed his overthrow and the more radical ones in Sinai," said Issandr El Amrani, director of the International Crisis Group for North Africa. "It was a green light for the more radical element to wage a much more widespread campaign of violence."
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