Egypt has signed on Monday a $5.92 billion deal to buy French weapons, Egyptian state news agency MENA said.
Cairo hopes the move will improve its military capacity as it is becoming engaged in a war with Islamist forces in neighboring Libya.
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The deal comes against the background of the Egyptian government’s Monday announcement that it had bombed Islamic State targets in Libya, shortly after the terrorist group released video of the beheadings of 21 Egyptian Coptic Christians.
According to Egyptian state TV, the two waves of strikes targeted camps, training sites and weapons storage sites.
Libyan officials said Egypt hit targets in the city of Derna, which is in the hands of the IS.
The French weapons purchase deal is for 24 Dassault Aviation Rafale combat jets, air-to-air missiles, and a multi-mission naval frigate.
Egyptian defense minister Sidqi Sobqi signed the deal with his French counterpart Jean-Yves Le Drian in a ceremony in the presence of President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi and a French delegation that included the manufacturers.
