Militants kill 12 military personnel in Egypt's Sinai

[Hindustani78]

http://zeenews.india.com/news/afric...litary-personnel-in-egypts-sinai_1939972.html
Last Updated: Friday, October 14, 2016 - 18:05

Ismailia: Suspected Islamic State gunmen killed 12 members of Egypt`s military in North Sinai province and wounded six more in an attack on a checkpoint on Friday, the military said, adding that it killed 15 militants in return.

The incident took place 40 km (25 miles) from the town of Bir al-Abd, making it the first major attack in the central Sinai area, which had so far escaped the militant Islamists` campaign.

It was carried out using assault rifles and some heavier weapons, medical and security sources said. The wounded were taken to hospital in al-Arish.

"An armed group of terrorist elements attacked a security checkpoint in North Sinai this morning using four-wheel drives and were immediately engaged. Our forces killed 15 terrorists," the military said in a statement. "The clashes led to the martyrdom of 12 and injury of six armed forces heroes."

An Islamist insurgency in the rugged and thinly populated Sinai Peninsula gained pace after the Egyptian military overthrew President Mohamed Mursi of the Muslim Brotherhood, Egypt`s oldest Islamist movement, in mid-2013 following mass protests against his rule.

The militant group staging the insurgency pledged allegiance to Islamic State in 2014 and adopted the name Sinai Province. It is blamed for the killing of hundreds of soldiers and policemen, and has started to target Western targets within Egypt.

President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi, the former military chief who led the overthrow of Mursi, describes Islamist militancy as an existential threat to Egypt, an ally of the United States. Islamic State controls large parts of Iraq and Syria and has a strong presence in Libya, which borders Egypt.

Reuters

 

[Hindustani78]

http://zeenews.india.com/news/world/egypt-airstrikes-kill-100-militants_1940417.html

Cairo: At least 100 militants were killed in airstrikes carried out by the Egyptian government against jihadist targets in North Sinai, a security source said.

The Armed Forces said in a televised statement on Saturday it pursued the criminal and terrorist elements who implemented the terrorist attack, Xinhua news agency reported.

The airstrikes targeted the hideouts of the armed extremists involved in Friday's attacks, and all areas that harbour the terrorist elements along with the weapons and ammunition depots were destroyed in the airstrikes, which lasted for three hours and is still ongoing, the statement added.

At least 40 militants were wounded in the air raids, the source added.

He added that the airstrikes have bombed three suspected jihadist bases in Rafah, Sheikh Zuweid and Al-Arish cities in Egypt.

The airstrikes were a retaliation to the killing of 12 army personnel on October 14 at a checkpoint.

North Sinai province has been a hub for anti-security attacks that killed hundreds since the army-led ouster of Islamist president Mohamed Morsi in 2013.

A Sinai-based militant group loyal to the Islamic State (IS) claimed responsibility for most of attacks, including the October 14 assault.

IANS

First Published: Sunday, October 16, 2016 - 09:50

 

[Hindustani78]

http://www.reuters.com/article/us-egypt-insurgency-violence-idUSKCN12M0BG
Sat Oct 22, 2016 | 6:17am EDT
A senior military official who served in the northern Sinai was killed on Saturday in front of his home on the outskirts of Cairo, security sources said.

Gunmen opened fire on Brigadier General Adel Rajaaie, an armored division commander, when he left his home in Obour city in the morning, the sources told Reuters

Egypt is facing an Islamist insurgency led by Islamic State's branch in North Sinai, where hundreds of soldiers and police have been killed. There have also been attacks in Cairo and other cities.

(Writing by Amina Ismail, Editing by Angus MacSwan)

 

[Hindustani78]

http://saudigazette.com.sa/world/mena/tackling-threats-sinai-whats-really-going/

“Security checkpoints in Sinai are stationary and not moving, which makes it much easier to watch the soldiers and know their numbers, how armed they are, and when they change shifts,” he wrote. “Also, most checkpoints are in exposed desert areas and are not protected by aircraft.” Mabrouk added that soldiers in these checkpoints are not experienced in combat, especially in comparison to their attackers. “The army sends young conscripts that do not know enough about the geography of the place and are not trained to engage in confrontations.”

Khaled Okasha, director of the National Center for Security Studies, explained that the attack took place for a number of reasons, all pertaining to the element of surprise. “Militants went back to a tactic they had abandoned for the past year, which is direct confrontation as opposed to planting bombs and ambushing security personnel. It had been hit-and-run for a while,” he said.

“They also changed the site of the operations as they took it away from the most restive areas such as Al-Arish, Rafah, and Sheikh Zowayed in the north, where their past operations were carried out and where security is extremely tight at the moment. Instead, they went south to an unexpected target at the heart of the desert in central Sinai.”

Journalist Gamil Afifi attributed the length of the war on terror to combat principles adopted by the Egyptian army.

“The army will never bomb areas populated by civilians even if terrorists are hiding there,” he wrote.

“The army is working very cautiously as if with a scalpel to make sure no house is demolished and no civilian is hurt. Militants take advantage of this and intentionally hide among residents.” According to Afifi, security forces once received intelligence about a meeting held by terrorists and helicopters took off to bomb the location, yet when finding out they were using residents as human shields, the operation was canceled.

“Had it not been for this, the army would have been able to cleanse Sinai of terrorism in less than eight hours.”

 

[Hindustani78]

http://www.reuters.com/article/us-egypt-insurgency-idUSKCN12T0H8
Sat Oct 29, 2016 | 10:24am EDT
A senior military officer and one soldier were killed on Saturday by a roadside explosion in Egypt's North Sinai where the government faces an Islamic State-led insurgency, security sources told Reuters.

Hundreds of soldiers and police have been killed in the insurgency and there have also been attacks in Cairo and other cities.

Militant groups appear to be stepping up attacks with the emergence of a new group calling itself the Revolution Brigade which claimed responsibility for the killing of a brigadier general, a commander in North Sinai, outside his home on the outskirts of Cairo last week.

That attack came just one week after Islamic State guerrillas ambushed a military checkpoint killing 12 Egyptian soldiers in the town of Bir al-Abd, the first major attack in the central Sinai area, which had so far escaped the militant Islamists' campaign.[8N1CL0GK]

Military and police sources who did not wish to be identified told Reuters that Saturday's explosion was a targeted attack on Colonel Rami Hassanein, who was killed while traveling in an armored vehicle just outside North Sinai's Sheikh Zuweid.

One other soldier was killed and three others were injured in the attack, the sources said.

Egypt's military has not released a statement on the incident and was not available for comment.

An Islamist insurgency in the rugged and thinly populated Sinai Peninsula gained pace after the military overthrew President Mohamed Mursi of the Muslim Brotherhood, Egypt's oldest Islamist movement, in mid-2013 following mass protests against his rule.


The militant group staging the insurgency pledged allegiance to Islamic State in 2014 and adopted the name Sinai Province.

(Reporting by Ahmed Mohamed Hassan and Mohamed Abdellah; Writing by Eric Knecht; Editing by Richard Balmforth)

 

[Sargon of Akkad]

May they rest in peace.

It is worrying that you hear about such regrettable incidents almost on a monthly basis. I believe that the Egyptian regime should do more to create jobs and opportunities in Sinai. This is the best long-term medicine against instability in Northern Sinai.

A bigger military/security presence and better intel on the ground would help too.

I know that Sinai arguably has the most challenging geography of Egypt



and that is is sparsely populated but it is a peninsula at the same time and most of the instability is seen in the lowlands in the North.

I know that Sinai is a major smuggling route in the region (been there myself so I know this) but that can and should also be better dealt with.

There is just 1 thing that I do not understand. Upper Egypt is arguably more poor, much more populous and as conservative if not more (Egypt overall is a conservative country) and is moreover a MB stronghold (especially the many villages along the Nile South of Cairo down to the Sudanese border) but there is little insurgency there if any at all.

Something is not right here. Not trying to start any conspiracy theory but something here does not add up. Could Israel possibly be involved here by trying to stir up trouble? So far those militants have not attacked Israel even once and we all know that Israel would prefer every neighbor and Arab country to waste time on internal matters such as terrorism/militancy rather than develop and ultimately rival/challenge/threaten Israel. I do not give much for the Egyptian/Israeli ties that are official. This does not reflect the wishes of the Egyptian people and the Israeli establishment still sees Egypt as the biggest threat long-term. History also confirms this.

Brother @EgyptianAmerican could you please elaborate on my post if you don't mind. Maybe you have the exact same questions as I have? I can see that many Egyptians are asking themselves similar questions.

I guess that a lot could be answered if the intelligence on the ground was improved. Not saying that it is outright bad but continuous attacks remain a thorn in the side of everyone involved.

 

[19887]

Something is not right here. Not trying to start any conspiracy theory but something here does not add up. Could Israel possibly be involved here by trying to stir up trouble? So far those militants have not attacked Israel even once and we all know that Israel would prefer every neighbor and Arab country to waste time on internal matters such as terrorism/militancy rather than develop and ultimately rival/challenge/threaten Israel. I do not give much for the Egyptian/Israeli ties that are official. This does not reflect the wishes of the Egyptian people and the Israeli establishment still sees Egypt as the biggest threat long-term. History also confirms this.

When mubarak ruled egypt he didn't gave a shit about what happened in sinai,so sinai was flooded by weapons and terrorists,the MB,hamas,salafist,al-qaida get stronger and stronger,then a proxy of al-qaida called "ansar bait al makdes"
start terrorize egyptian forces in sinai,and israel too.then this terrorists swore allegiance to isis.
http://www.israelhayom.com/site/newsletter_article.php?id=4737
http://www.haaretz.com/israel-news/...terrorist-attacks-in-southern-israel-1.379309
http://www.haaretz.com/report-three...terrorist-attacks-on-southern-israel-1.380321
http://www.timesofisrael.com/gunmen-slay-15-egyptian-soldiers-on-gaza-border/
http://www.israelnationalnews.com/News/News.aspx/219332
http://www.israelnationalnews.com/News/News.aspx/160173
http://www.jpost.com/Middle-East/Rocket-lands-in-Eilat-causing-light-injuries-and-damage-362796
http://www.jpost.com/Defense/Iron-Dome-system-intercepts-rocket-over-Eilat-368851
http://www.jpost.com/Defense/Iron-Dome-intercepts-rocket-over-Eilat-340022

this stupid terrorist even hit aqaba,so they already attacked egypt israel and jordan.
one time when i served there they were some km in front of us trying to shoot mortars on us,the air force scared them.
my friend(bedouin muslim) in our brigade kill one of this f*uckers.
there is more things i can't tell you but believe me,no conspiracy here!

 

[Sargon of Akkad]

When mubarak ruled egypt he didn't gave a shit about what happened in sinai,so sinai was flooded by weapons and terrorists,the MB,hamas,salafist,al-qaida get stronger and stronger,then a proxy of al-qaida called "ansar bait al makdes"
start terrorize egyptian forces in sinai,and israel too.then this terrorists swore allegiance to isis.
http://www.israelhayom.com/site/newsletter_article.php?id=4737
http://www.haaretz.com/israel-news/...terrorist-attacks-in-southern-israel-1.379309
http://www.haaretz.com/report-three...terrorist-attacks-on-southern-israel-1.380321
http://www.timesofisrael.com/gunmen-slay-15-egyptian-soldiers-on-gaza-border/
http://www.israelnationalnews.com/News/News.aspx/219332
http://www.israelnationalnews.com/News/News.aspx/160173
http://www.jpost.com/Middle-East/Rocket-lands-in-Eilat-causing-light-injuries-and-damage-362796
http://www.jpost.com/Defense/Iron-Dome-system-intercepts-rocket-over-Eilat-368851
http://www.jpost.com/Defense/Iron-Dome-intercepts-rocket-over-Eilat-340022

this stupid terrorist even hit aqaba,so they already attacked egypt israel and jordan.
one time when i served there they were some km in front of us trying to shoot mortars on us,the air force scared them.
my friend(bedouin muslim) in our brigade kill one of this f*uckers.
there is more things i can't tell you but believe me,no conspiracy here!

I know Egypt quite well having visited several times and I am also aware of the insurgency/terrorism present in Sinai and the past and current neglect of Sinai. However this does not explain why even more poor, populous and equally conservative (if not more) regions of Upper Egypt do not face anything remotely similar despite being mostly MB strongholds.

Conspiracies are what they are but you have to admit/agree with me that given the history of Egypt and Israel and simple geography and ground realities, Egypt remains the potentially most dangerous neighbor for Israel on a long-term basis. So it would not be outrageous to think that the Israeli intelligence or at least parts of it turned a blind eye to Sinai or even facilitated some of the smuggling and groups there. Stranger things have happened and are happening in this region.

If I am not wrong ISIS affiliates are also challenging Hamas in nearby Gaza. Having them fight each other would be a win-win situation for Israel.

Also I am sure you know that the population of Egypt and Jordan, despite those countries having official diplomatic ties with Israel, dislike you Israelis more than the average GCC citizen despite the GCC having no official ties with you, for instance. Or say the average Moroccan.

Anyway I appreciate your post and I have heard good things about Israeli Bedouins and their loyalty/fighting spirit.

 

[19887]

Egypt remains the potentially most dangerous neighbor for Israel on a long-term basis.

What?no!
Iran is,and syria was,but definitely not egypt nor jordan.
The policy is to do everything we can to help egypt&jordan to be secure&stable so we will have two secured borders and also a stable axis to counter the iranian one or the salafist one.
israel gave egypt intelligence for years about whats going on in sinai but till sisi came they never listened.

 

[Hindustani78]

http://zeenews.india.com/news/world...ers-killed-in-egypts-north-sinai_1944938.html
Last Updated: Sunday, October 30, 2016 - 07:02

Cairo: Six terrorists and four soldiers were killed during army operations in Egypt's extremism-infested North Sinai, military officials said today.

Three militant hideouts, two vehicles and three unlicensed motorcycles used by them in their attacks against police personnel were also destroyed, military spokesperson Brigadier General Mohamed Samir said in a statement.

A number of suspected militants were also arrested during the army operations in Al-Arish, Rafah and Shiekh Zwayed in North Sinai, it said.

The army operations are part of the retaliation campaign launched to avenge the recent attack that killed 12 soldiers in the region.

Egypt has witnessed a series of terrorist attacks which targeted policemen, judges and military personnel in different parts of the country.?

Since the 2011 revolution that toppled ex-president Hosni Mubarak, North Sinai, which is the base of a number of extremist outlaw groups, became the main stage of many violent attacks by takfiri gunmen.

The attacks even increased after the ouster of Islamist ex-president Mohamed Morsi in 2013 following massive protests against his rule.

Over 700 security personnel have been reported killed since then.

The military has launched security campaigns in the area, arrested suspects and demolished houses that belong to terrorists, including those facilitating tunnels leading to the Gaza Strip.

PTI

First Published: Sunday, October 30, 2016 - 07:02

 

[Sargon of Akkad]

What?no!
Iran is,and syria was,but definitely not egypt nor jordan.
The policy is to do everything we can to help egypt&jordan to be secure&stable so we will have two secured borders and also a stable axis to counter the iranian one or the salafist one.
israel gave egypt intelligence for years about whats going on in sinai but till sisi came they never listened.

Iran is not even your neighbor. They are located 1500 km away at the shortest distance. Their sole influence in that part of the world is supporting Hezbollah which is no threat for Israel. Come on!

Jordan? Are you serious?

The biggest long-term threat/rival in your neighborhood is definitely Egypt. After that KSA although we are not direct neighbors but almost neighbors.



I do not know how this can be disputed? You are looking at this from today but who knows what will happen in say 50 years time? Of course if Arab world-Israel ties normalize fully and new generations who will only have known about peaceful coexistence replace previous generations, then this discussion will not be relevant.

Also notice how I was speaking about neighbors.

Also once again the hatred for Israel is bigger in Egypt and Jordan than arguably anywhere else in the Arab world yet those two countries/regimes have official ties with Israel. Yet this decision does not reflect a love for Israel by the people of Egypt and Jordan.

There are simple historical reasons for this. Recent wars etc. Something that you have not had with say Morocco, Tunisia, GCC, Yemen etc.

I do not understand why you do not recognize Palestine as a country. We Arabs and Jews could do great things together as previously. You might think that the Arab world is currently weak (but even a weak Arab world is a serious opposition) but think about the future and the inevitable. Improvement. Do not forget that the Arab world was a global powerhouse for millennia in pre-Islamic and Islamic times. This is the cradle of civilization that we are talking about. It is a question of when and not if, when things will improve and once that happens it would be a good thing for small Israel to have good relations with its neighbors. Neighbors that you will never be able to change unless you create another Israel somewhere else.

And guess what, 50% + of you Israeli Jews (which are Jews from the Arab world) took part in the progress of the Arab world in ancient times before 95% of them ended up in Israel.

Anyway the modern-day hostility for Israel and Jews by a large number of Arabs is not aimed at anything racial or religious but rather it is a conflict about land inheritance. I can assure you that once the Palestinian question has been solved that Arabs and Jews will have cordial relations once again. For every Arab and Jew that knows his history this will not come as a surprise development.

 

[19887]

Iran is not even your neighbor. They are located 1500 km away at the shortest distance. Their sole influence in that part of the world is supporting Hezbollah which is no threat for Israel. Come on!

Jordan? Are you serious?

The biggest long-term threat/rival in your neighborhood is definitely Egypt. After that KSA although we are not direct neighbors but almost neighbors.

I do not know how this can be disputed? You are looking at this from today but who knows what will happen in say 50 years time? Of course if Arab world-Israel ties normalize fully and new generations who will only have known about peaceful coexistence replace previous generations, then this discussion will not be relevant.

Also notice how I was speaking about neighbors.

Also once again the hatred for Israel is bigger in Egypt and Jordan than arguably anywhere else in the Arab world yet those two countries/regimes have official ties with Israel. Yet this decision does not reflect a love for Israel by the people of Egypt and Jordan.

There are simple historical reasons for this. Recent wars etc. Something that you have not had with say Morocco, Tunisia, GCC, Yemen etc.

I do not understand why you do not recognize Palestine as a country. We Arabs and Jews could do great things together as previously. You might think that the Arab world is currently weak (but even a weak Arab world is a serious opposition) but think about the future and the inevitable. Improvement. Do not forget that the Arab world was a global powerhouse for millennia in pre-Islamic and Islamic times. This is the cradle of civilization that we are talking about. It is a question of when and not if, when things will improve and once that happens it would be a good thing for small Israel to have good relations with its neighbors. Neighbors that you will never be able to change unless you create another Israel somewhere else.

And guess what, 50% + of you Israeli Jews (which are Jews from the Arab world) took part in the progress of the Arab world in ancient times before 95% of them ended up in Israel.

Anyway the modern-day hostility for Israel and Jews by a large number of Arabs is not aimed at anything racial or religious but rather it is a conflict about land inheritance. I can assure you that once the Palestinian question has been solved that Arabs and Jews will have cordial relations once again. For every Arab and Jew that knows his history this will not come as a surprise development.

Egypt it's not a threat and will not be one even if hitler will rule egypt,they can't relly do serious thing to us the same all the arab world in this century,the threat was big arsenal of chemical weapons in syria,and will be future nuclear iran.
It is well known that the peace with egypt&jordan is just temporarily.people in egypt or jordan can hate us as much as they want,it's still not a threat.
There is no "palestine"/"palestinian land"/"palestinian people",but there is "palestinian idea/ideology which invented by the arab league and developed by the soviets and the western leftists to counter the "zionist idea".
The conflict it's not about one state,two state,land,politics, it is an ideological war.
Why the "palestinian idea" is not winning and will not win? because it counter a dead ideology(zionism).
Zionism has fulfilled itself in 1948, and the idea passed from the world.
Of course palestinian ideologists don't know that they are fighting against air, vacuum, something that does not exist.
Israel will not back to auschwitz borders(67' borders)and will not gave up her heart(judea&samaria)!!!!!.
It is you arabs who created the pali idea and the "israel is satan,jews are demons" retoric,and you should fix it,don't blame us because of your stupidity.
We jews,did great thing for thousands of years,without you,and we don't need you to keep doing it.

 

[Sargon of Akkad]

Egypt it's not a threat and will not be one even if hitler will rule egypt,they can't relly do serious thing to us the same all the arab world in this century,the threat was big arsenal of chemical weapons in syria,and will be future nuclear iran.
It is well known that the peace with egypt&jordan is just temporarily.people in egypt or jordan can hate us as much as they want,it's still not a threat.
There is no "palestine"/"palestinian land"/"palestinian people",but there is "palestinian idea/ideology which invented by the arab league and developed by the soviets and the western leftists to counter the "zionist idea".
The conflict it's not about one state,two state,land,politics, it is an ideological war.
Why the "palestinian idea" is not winning and will not win? because it counter a dead ideology(zionism).
Zionism has fulfilled itself in 1948, and the idea passed from the world.
Of course palestinian ideologists don't know that they are fighting against air, vacuum, something that does not exist.
Israel will not back to auschwitz borders(67' borders)and will not gave up her heart(judea&samaria)!!!!!.
It is you arabs who created the pali idea and the "israel is satan,jews are demons" retoric,and you should fix it,don't blame us because of your stupidity.
We jews,did great thing for thousands of years,without you,and we don't need you to keep doing it.

Too much trolling for me to reply to it, I am afraid. Whatever floats your boat. Anyway almost 25% of Israel's population is Arab (Muslim and Christian) and over 50% of all Israeli Jews are Arab Jews who are not any different genetically from their Arab Muslims and Christian counterparts. Arabic is already an official language in Israel and most of your cuisine that you call Israeli is in fact Arabic cuisine.

As for Palestine, I can assure you that there will be a future country called Palestine. They already control areas inhabited by them (West Bank and Gaza) and Israel cannot steal that land.

As for needing anyone, we never needed you either however Arabs and Jews have proved that when cooperating good things can come out of it. Al-Andalus being a good example among many.

Anyway you appear to be an anti-Arab Jew (from Azerbaijan) but that is not the case with all Jewish users here that one can have good and serious debates with.

 

[Hindustani78]

Iran is not even your neighbor. They are located 1500 km away at the shortest distance. Their sole influence in that part of the world is supporting Hezbollah which is no threat for Israel. Come on!

Jordan? Are you serious?

The biggest long-term threat/rival in your neighborhood is definitely Egypt. After that KSA although we are not direct neighbors but almost neighbors.



I do not know how this can be disputed? You are looking at this from today but who knows what will happen in say 50 years time? Of course if Arab world-Israel ties normalize fully and new generations who will only have known about peaceful coexistence replace previous generations, then this discussion will not be relevant.

Also notice how I was speaking about neighbors.

Also once again the hatred for Israel is bigger in Egypt and Jordan than arguably anywhere else in the Arab world yet those two countries/regimes have official ties with Israel. Yet this decision does not reflect a love for Israel by the people of Egypt and Jordan.

There are simple historical reasons for this. Recent wars etc. Something that you have not had with say Morocco, Tunisia, GCC, Yemen etc.

I do not understand why you do not recognize Palestine as a country. We Arabs and Jews could do great things together as previously. You might think that the Arab world is currently weak (but even a weak Arab world is a serious opposition) but think about the future and the inevitable. Improvement. Do not forget that the Arab world was a global powerhouse for millennia in pre-Islamic and Islamic times. This is the cradle of civilization that we are talking about. It is a question of when and not if, when things will improve and once that happens it would be a good thing for small Israel to have good relations with its neighbors. Neighbors that you will never be able to change unless you create another Israel somewhere else.

And guess what, 50% + of you Israeli Jews (which are Jews from the Arab world) took part in the progress of the Arab world in ancient times before 95% of them ended up in Israel.

Anyway the modern-day hostility for Israel and Jews by a large number of Arabs is not aimed at anything racial or religious but rather it is a conflict about land inheritance. I can assure you that once the Palestinian question has been solved that Arabs and Jews will have cordial relations once again. For every Arab and Jew that knows his history this will not come as a surprise development.

I dont know in which world you live.

Israeli settlement blocks beyond the green line are violations of United Nations Resolutions. Palestinians have accepted State of Israel not on 1948 borders but 1967 borders .

Egypt, GCC, Turkey, Jordan and India have always stand for Independent Palestine state with (Al QUDS) East Jerusalem as their Capital .

 

[HAIDER]

Rest in Peace fallen soldiers....