CAIRO, March 1 (Xinhua) -- Egyptian President Abdel-Fattah al-Sisi said Thursday that offending the army or the police who sacrificed their souls in the country's anti-terror war would "equal high treason."
He made the remarks during the inauguration ceremony of the New El Alamein city project in the Matrouh province north of the capital Cairo.
"This is not a matter of freedom of speech," he said, stressing that offending the country's army or police is an offense to all Egyptians.
Meanwhile, the Egyptian army announced Thursday that it killed 13 terrorists and arrested 86 suspects in the North Sinai province in the latest operation of a comprehensive anti-terror campaign.
Since the launch of the large-scale anti-terror campaign on Feb. 9, dubbed "Sinai 2018," a total of 95 terrorists have been killed so far while the army has lost 10 soldiers.
The remarks came a few days after Egypt's State Information Service (SIS) lashed out at the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) over its recent report that indicated alleged police involvement in torturing and enforced disappearances of citizens.
In a documentary last week, the BBC showed a mother claiming that her 23-year-old daughter was tortured and hidden by the Egyptian police, yet an Egyptian private TV channel later aired an interview with the daughter who denied her mother's claims.
Hundreds of soldiers and policemen were killed in Egypt since the army ousted former Islamist President Mohamed Morsi in July 2013 in response to mass protests against his one-year rule and his currently outlawed Muslim Brotherhood group.
Most of the terror attacks were carried out by a Sinai-based group affiliated with the regional terrorist group Islamic State (IS).
Meanwhile, the Egyptian forces killed hundreds of terrorists and arrested thousands others in the country's anti-terror war declared by Sisi, the army chief then, following Morsi's removal.
