Sisi tightens security ahead of Egyptian revolution's 8th anniversary

Military forces will join local police in patrols of major roads and important sites and will be ready to deal with "any attempt to break the law", an army statement said.

Cairo's Tahrir Square, which was a focal point of the 2011 revolution, will see heightened security.

"On the occasion of the commemoration of the 25 January revolution and the Police Day, the General Command of the Egyptian Armed Forces has taken the necessary actions, in coordination with the interior ministry, to secure the celebrations across Egypt's provinces," the army's spokesperson, Tamer Al-Rifai, said in a statement.

Egypt has virtually banned protests since the general-turned-president Abdel Fattah el-Sisi took office.

Sisi often warns that his tough hand ensuring stability is necessary, pointing to war and destruction in Syria, Yemen and Libya as the alternative.

Sisi's emphasis on security has taken on added significance amid his ambitious program to reform the economy, which has unleashed steep price hikes, hitting the middle class hard.

Since Sisi rose to office in 2014, there have been no significant protests. Still, the government is constantly wary they could return, especially given that the 2011 protests erupted as part of a chain reaction, inspired by Tunisia's "Arab Spring" uprising.

On Thursday, many took to social media to mark the anniversary, sharing images from 2011.

The 2011 revolt saw hundreds of thousands of protesters call for "bread, freedom and social justice" and rally against a regime seen as corrupt and dictatorial.

But eight years on, the majority of experts view Sisi's government as the most repressive in the history of modern Egypt.

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