Sisi.

CAIRO — Egypt’s president called for increased U.S. military aid and creation of a regional coalition to fight “Islamic State” in an interview with Fox News that aired on Monday, just days before the United States sends its top diplomat to the country.

“It is very important for the United States to understand that our need for the weapons and for the equipment is dire, especially at the time when the Egyptians feel they are fighting terrorism and they would like to feel the United States is standing by them in that fight against terrorism,” said President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi.

He called for the United States to help quell the turmoil in the region. 

“The region is facing very tough circumstances now,” Sisi said through a translator. “The public opinion wants to see a big response from capable countries – countries that are able to provide assistance to it.”

He also said it’s important to push to “reinstate the right meaning of religion.” Addressing the role of the Muslim Brotherhood in his country, he spoke out against what he described as “political Islam.” 

He said the people of Egypt have a “real fear of this kind” of system, adding they feel “these people have turned their lives into a living hell.” 

A suicide bomber killed a civilian and wounded 30 policemen when he tried to ram a water tanker into a police barracks in the Egyptian city of al-Arish on Tuesday. Another attack on a checkpoint with rocket-propelled grenades wounded one army officer and two other soldiers in the same city Thursday.

In a different assault, a roadside bomb exploded near a security checkpoint in southern Arish, killing one army officer and wounding three others Tuesday, security sources said.

Militants have killed dozens of Egyptian security forces since the army ousted democratically elected President Mohamad Morsi. Ansar Bait al-Maqdis, a group of extremist militants in Sinai, pledged allegiance to the “Islamic State” last November.

However, Morsi’s Muslim Brotherhood maintains that it is committed to peaceful activism despite being outlawed and being listed  as a terrorist organization.