Two years after Morsi, Egypt stuck in turmoil

Cairo

Two years after the army deposed president Mohamed Morsi, Egypt is roiled by brazen Islamic State group attacks in the Sinai Peninsula and brutal government repression that has killed hundreds.

Militant attacks have persisted since then army chief and now President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi ousted Morsi on July 3, 2013, after mass street protests against the Islamist's single year of divisive rule.

This week's assassination of state prosecutor Hisham Barakat in a Cairo car bombing, followed by spectacular IS attacks that killed dozens in the Sinai, underlined the lack of security and stability despite a wide-ranging crackdown.

Hundreds have been killed, tens of thousands detained and hundreds more sentenced to death after speedy trials in the crackdown targeting Morsi supporters.

Morsi himself and several leaders of his Muslim Brotherhood movement are among those to have been handed the death penalty. Jihadists led by IS have killed scores of troops, mostly in the Sinai, challenging Sisi's efforts to restore security and economic stability in the biggest Sunni Arab country.

On Wednesday, the military deployed F-16 warplanes to bombard IS jihadists who fought pitched battles with troops in a North Sinai town after launching a surprise dawn attack on army checkpoints.

Dozens were killed in IS's boldest attack yet in the strife-torn Sinai since Morsi's ouster, with militants taking over rooftops and firing rockets at troops.