CAIRO — The United States will deliver eight F-16 Block 52 aircraft to Egypt within the next two days, the US Embassy in Cairo said in a statement on Thursday.



The statement said the US would deliver four more F-16s to Egypt this autumn.



In late March, US President Barack Obama lifted a hold on a supply of arms to Cairo, authorizing deliveries of US weapons valued at over $1.3 billion. The statement said Washington would deliver four more F-16s to Egypt this autumn.



Despite US lawmakers' concerns that Egypt is lagging on democratic reforms, Egypt remains one of Washington's closest security allies in the region.



Relations had cooled after former president Mohamed Morsi of the Muslim Brotherhood was overthrown by the military in 2013 after mass protests against his rule, but ties with former general Abdel Fattah El-Sisi, who was later elected to succeed him, have steadily improved. — Reuters