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Egyptian Army has killed 500 militants in North Sinai operations since
Army has killed 500 militants in North Sinai operations: Egypt’s military
intelligence chief
Egypt’s chief of military intelligence says the Muslim Brotherhood allied
itself with the Islamic State militant group since the ouster of president
Mohamed Morsi in July 2013
Ahram Online , Friday 10 Feb 2017
http://english.ahram.org.eg/NewsContent/1/64/257943/Egypt/Politics-/Army-has-killed–militants-in-North-Sinai-operatio.aspx
Egypt’s Chief of Military Intelligence Mohammed Farag El-Shahat said
that the Egyptian army has killed nearly 500 militants in Sinai in military
operations launched under the name “the martyr’s right’ since 2015.
Egypt’s security forces have been battling a decade-long militant Islamist
insurgency, which intensified since the ouster of Islamist president Mohamed
Morsi on 3 July, 2013.
The insurgency has been mainly concentrated in North Sinai ‘s Rafah, Arish,
and Shiekh Zuwied.
Militant attacks have left hundreds of police and army personnel dead.
El-Shahat statements came during the Egyptian Armed Forces 24th intellectual
seminar titled “Counter-terrorism; a Nation’s Will” that commenced on
Thursday.
The military intelligence chief said that the banned Muslim Brotherhood
organisation formed an alliance with the Islamic State militant group, which
is based predominantly in North Sinai, a move aimed at putting the
Brotherhood back in power.
El-Shahat cited as proof of this alliance a statement made in early July
2013 by Mohamed El-Beltagy, a leading Muslim Brotherhood figure who is now
in jail on various criminal convictions, in which he said that terrorism in
Sinai would stop at the moment ousted president Morsi returns back to power.
In December 2013, Egypt designated the Muslim Brotherhood a terrorist
organisation, after the authorities blamed the group for a number of deadly
attacks against security forces in the aftermath of the ouster of Morsi.
“Militants attempted to announce an Islamic state in North Sinai’s Sheikh
Zuweid city after they launched a major attack on 1 July 2015,” El-Shahat
stated.
El-Shahat said the army and police in North Sinai foiled this attempt,
causing tangible loses among militants and terrorist groups.
On that day, the army said it killed more than 100 militants during its
counter-attacks in Sheikh Zuweid and Rafah cities.
The army also said 17 army personnel including four officers and 13 others
were injured during the fighting.
The Egyptian military intelligence chief also said that the state of
instability in many countries in the region contributed to the rise of
terrorist attacks in Egypt during this period.
Source: http://www.imra.org.il/story.php3?id=72160
