Sisi.

CAIRO — Egypt’s President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi warned world powers on Monday that Islamist militants are ravaging the Middle East and pose a threat to everyone’s security.

“Be alert to what is happening in the region … This region is being destroyed right now and we should not let this happen,” Sisi said in a televised speech.

“This matter concerns not just the Arab world. It concerns the entire world,” he said, naming the United States, Russia, China and Europe.

A lightning advance by the Islamic State through major oil producer Iraq has rung alarm bells from Cairo to Washington.

The al-Qaeda offshoot declared itself a “caliphate” last month, weeks after overrunning the northern city of Mosul and seizing swathes of land north and west of the capital.

Sisi did not name the Islamic State in his speech, but the mention of “countries that are being destroyed and divided in the name of religion” was a clear reference to their actions in Iraq and neighboring Syria.

Sisi told Reuters before his election in May that Egypt needed U.S. support to combat militants, who have stepped up attacks on Egyptian security forces since the army toppled President Mohamed Morsi of the Muslim Brotherhood.

The former army chief warned that the Sinai could turn into a base for “terrorism”, destabilizing Egypt and the region.

Sisi said his government’s decision to cut subsidies for fuel and electricity were necessary to improve Egypt’s budget deficit, which is set to hold at 10 percent of economic output in the next three years.