Military aircraft broke the sound barrier on Monday around five am over Cairo and Alexandria, causing panic.
Two aircrafts were videotaped by residents. Upon the aircraft breaking the sound barrier, a loud boom made some fear missile attacks.
Mohamed Askar, Ministry of Defence spokesman, said this was part of Egyptian military training. “The ministry has issued an official statement explaining that this is part of military maneuvers to train fighter pilots in methods of engagement over residential areas and early warning systems.”
Officers for the Revolution, a group of military personnel known for criticising the Egyptian military, issued a statement claiming these were maneuvers of the Israeli army. “The six aircrafts were F-15 Israeli war planes,” the statement read. It added, “the Egyptian military does not train during national holidays,” in reference to Eid Al-Adha, a four day holiday currently taking place.
The statement said military aircraft are not allowed to fly or break the sound barrier over residential areas and their training begins at “first light”, a military term that usually means 6am, not earlier.
Officers for the Revolution claimed this could be a similar case to when the Israeli breached Sudan’s air space a week ago, bombing a weapons factory.
Israeli-US joint training was reported by the BBC to be planned for the end of October 2012.
