El-Sisi calls for brute force on militants

CAIRO: Just days after the worst terrorist attack in Egypt’s modern history, President Abdel-Fattah el-Sisi yesterday gave his security forces a three-month deadline to restore “security and stability” in the troubled northern Sinai – the epicentre of an increasingly brutal Islamic insurgency.

In a televised ceremony marking the birthday of Islam’s Prophet Muhammad, el-Sisi authorised his new chief of staff, Major-General Mohammed Farid Hegazy, to use “all brute force” against the militants.

Hegazy, appointed last month, rose from his front-row seat and stood to attention as el-Sisi, a general-turned-president, addressed him.

“I am mandating Major-General Mohammed Farid Hegazy before you and the entire people of Egypt to restore security and stability in Sinai,” said el-Sisi. “With God’s benevolence and your efforts and sacrifices, you and the police will restore security and use all brute force, all brute force.”

This is the second time since Friday’s massacre in a Sinai village that el-Sisi ordered the use of “brute force” against the militants. It was not immediately clear what the use of such force would entail, but it suggested a scorched earth tactic that many of the president’s loyalists in the media have been calling for.

Friday’s attack on a mosque in the northern Sinai village of al-Rawdah was the bloodiest assault by Islamic extremists in Egypt’s modern history. Among the 305 dead were 27 children; another 128 people were wounded.

The Islamic State group hasn’t yet claimed responsibility for the mosque attack, but the over two dozen gunmen carried the black banner of the Islamic State. – AP