The turmoil in Egypt continued Monday with 25 policemen being killed in an attack by militants.
The policemen were travelling in two buses in Egypt's north Sinai when the militants fired rocket-propelled grenades at the vehicles, Xinhua reported quoting the official Egyptian news agency MENA.
According to the report, the buses were carrying the policemen from their base in Rafah city to their homes for vacation, when the attack took place.
Three other policemen were injured in the attack and they were transferred by military helicopters to hospital for treatment even as security deployment was reinforced on the main roaods to arrest the suspects.
The latest incident took place after 36 Muslim Brotherhood members were killed Sunday night when they tried to escape while being taken to a jail.
Armed clashes broke out between security forces and militants, who intercepted and attacked the police vehicles carrying the Muslim Brotherhood detainees to the Abu Zaabal prison near Cairo, Xinhua reported Monday citing MENA.
The clashes took place before the police vehicles entered the prison.
The detainees tried to escape with the help of the militants, who took a police officer hostage. The security men fired tear gas shells in response. Some detainees suffered from suffocation while several militants were shot dead.
More than 600 people have been sent to 15 days in custody pending investigation over Saturday's clashes at Al-Fatah mosque which left at least 79 dead.
Meanwhile, Egyptian Defence Minister Abdel Fatah al-Sisi said his country would stand firm against any attempt to attack government and religious institutions, according to the military's Facebook page.
"Those, who think that the country and the people will kneel in front of the violence, must reconsider their thoughts," Xinhua quoted Sisi as saying Sunday, remarks apparently directed at the Muslim Brotherhood.
Sisi added that he would not keep silent about the attempts by some people to burn the country, terrorise people and send a message to foreign media that civil war was under way on Egyptian streets.
Interim Prime Minister Hazem al-Beblawi also issued a statement saying that Egypt would continue to face terrorism firmly and decisively ahead of implementing the country's road-map, which gives priority to amending the constitution and running parliamentary elections followed by a presidential poll.
Meanwhile, countries around the world condemned or expressed concern over the violence in Egypt, urging Egyptian political parties to exercise restraint to avoid further escalation.
US President Barack Obama strongly condemned the steps taken by the Egyptian interim government and immediately announced the cancellation of joint military exercises, saying the US's traditional cooperation with Egypt "cannot continue as usual".
However, the Obama administration has refused to suspend $1.3 billion in annual military aid, despite divisions in the Congress on whether to cut off aid to its important Middle East ally.
European Union leaders stressed that the "calls for democracy and fundamental freedoms from the Egyptian population cannot be disregarded, much less washed away in blood". They also said they would consider a suspension of aid and loans to the country.
Egypt has been undergoing a democratic transition since the fall of president Hosni Mubarak two years ago. In July this year, Mohamed Morsi, the first democratically elected president, was deposed by the armed forces after only one year in office.
The constitution was suspended and an interim government was then installed.
