Egypt launches largest military base in Middle East

Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi inaugurated on Saturday the largest military base of the Middle East in the coastal city of Alexandria.
The president raised the Armed Forces flag on the new base in el Hammam city, west of Alexandria.
The military base was named after late president Mohamed Naguib, who orchestrated 1952 revolution which ended the royal regime in Egypt.
The new military base is the biggest in the Middle East and Africa regions, according to official news agency MENA.
The base, which is built on what used to be a military city, constructed in 1993, consists of 1,155 buildings established and renovated over the past two years, the spokesperson of the armed forces Tamer el-Refai said in a statement.
The military base will also serve as a headquarters to some forces of the Northern Military Unit, which expected to increase its efficiency in protecting west of Alexandria, the North Coast, the currently under construction Al-Dabaa nuclear power plant, and oil fields, the statement added.
The 72-km long road base will also be used in military exercises with the armies of other countries.
The statement added the new base has 72 integral battlefields for training, along with complexes for electronic shooting platforms.
It also accommodates 27 rest houses for top officials, and 29 buildings for officers, as well as a large camp for housing 1,000 soldiers, and 50-bed hospital, as well as a conferences center, museum and mosque.