Military will defend Egypt against internal or external threats El-Sisi

Speaking at ceremony marking the graduation of students at the military academy and the technical institutes of the armed forces from basic military training, El-Sisi asserted that the students are joining a path towards becoming the "protectors of the homeland."

He directed a message of appreciation to the students' parents, saying: "I salute you on what you have given to the nation, [those] who will defend it against any hostilities it is to face internally or externally."

El-Sisi announced that this class of students will be named the Saad El-Shazli class, in honour of former president Anwar El-Sadat's chief of staff and a celebrated war hero who founded the Egyptian paratrooper battalion in 1954.

Shazli was forced into exile after criticising the Camp David agreement in 1978