Egypt's Muslim Brotherhood has expressed its condolences for the victims of Friday's deadly Sinai attacks, holding the government responsible for their death.
At least 30 security forces were killed in two attacks in North Sinai on Friday, prompting the government to declare a state of emergency in an area already stricken with a jihadist insurgency.
"The Muslim Brotherhood condemns this crime and holds the leader of the coup the accountable for killing the soldiers who have become victims of local, regional and international intelligence," the banned group said in a statement published on its official website Saturday.
The Brotherhood also held the current government accountable for what it described as "continuous failure in security, economy and social aspects" in Egypt and "the top military leaders' deviation from their main duties.”
The group deems the ouster of former president Mohamed Morsi, who was deposed by the military in July 2013 amid mass popular demonstrations against his rule nationwide, as a coup.
The Brotherhood has continually protested against a government that has launched a crackdown on its activities that has banned it, declared it a terrorist organisation, dissolved its political wing (the Freedom and Justice Party) and put hundreds of its members on trial including Morsi and other top leaders.
The Brotherhood has repeatedly asserted that it is committed to peaceful demonstrations.
Meanwhile, President Abdel-Fattah El-Sisi said on Saturday that "foreign hands" lie behind the attacks aimed "to defeat the military that has been protecting the Egyptian people and their will.”
Egyptian political parties, both on the left and the right, have also condemned the attacks and asserted their support for the armed forces in its "fight against terrorism".
The Egyptian army has been facing a decade-long jihadist militant insurgency in the Sinai Peninsula, with militant attacks increasing over the past year and expanding into Cairo and the Nile Delta. At least 40 security personnel were killed in Sinai last week alone, including two attacks on Friday.
Some of the previous attacks have been claimed by Al-Qaeda-inspired Ansar Beit Al-Maqdis group or by another jihadist group known as Ajnad Misr. Speculations has also surfaced suggesting that ISIS has relations with groups in Sinai or has recruitment cells in the restive peninsula.
In addition to its statement on North Sinai the Brotherhood released a statement from Morsi – currently in jail pending several trials that include charges of inciting murder and espionage – on Saturday which called on his supporters to continue protesting.
"I would like to announce clearly that I have refused, and am still refusing, all attempts to negotiate or compromise on the constants of the revolution or the blood of the martyrs," he said.
"I believe only the revolution will heal this homeland's wounds. Complete your revolution, sure of a near victory. God will never let you down," he added.
The Brotherhood, its loyalists are among opponents of the regime currently staging protests at university campuses nationwide.
