Egypt army storms Islamist-held town
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}Egyptian army soldiers sit on top of an armoured personnel carrier in Cairo on August 23, 2013. Troops stormed a central Egyptian town held for over a month by hardline supporters of ousted Islamist president Mohamed Morsi who had launched a campaign against Christian residents. (AFP/File)
Troops on Monday stormed a central Egyptian town held for over a month by hardline supporters of ousted Islamist president Mohamed Morsi who had launched a campaign against Christian residents, officials said.
Soldiers and police entered the town of Delga in the central Minya province just after dawn, searching homes and arresting several Islamists, a security official told AFP.
All 32 entrances to the village were shut and a daytime curfew imposed as authorities recaptured the town of 120,000 people, held for 31 days by Morsi loyalists, according to the official MENA news agency.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}Officials said Islamists controlling the town were behind several attacks on churches around the Minya province.
The raid on the town comes amid a massive crackdown on Islamists following the military's ouster of president Morsi on July 3, which plunged the country deeper into turmoil.
In mid-August police and soldiers broke up two pro-Morsi protest camps in Cairo in an operation that killed hundreds.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}The transition plan set up by the army-backed interim government stipulates fresh parliamentary elections and a presidential vote by mid-2014.