Egypt enters a new phase that might favour extremists

The bombing of an Egyptian police compound in Mansoura on Tuesday, and the designation of the Muslim Brotherhood as a terrorist organisation by the interim government, mark a turning point for the political crisis in the country. And yet, the authorities do not appear to have the type of forward thinking necessary to prevent Egypt from slipping into a new cycle of terrorism and violence.

The escalation of violence has been ongoing since August 14. There were acts of violence after the removal of Mohammed Morsi from office, but those acts were containable. When the government made the decision to disperse the pro-Morsi sit-ins, which led to the deaths of more than a thousand people, it was predictable that, at some point, there would be acts of terrorism in retaliation. The interior minister himself identified the Mansoura attack as a response to the state’s dispersal of those sit-ins.

The opening of the article. The full text is at The National.