Egypt strikes back after Sinai terrorist attacks
MORE THAN 100 DIE IN CLASHES AFTER BRAZEN ASSAULT ON SOLDIERS
Egyptian F16 jets struck Daesh terrorists in the Sinai Peninsula where more than 100 people were killed in attacks and clashes yesterday, security officials and wtinesses said.
Fighter jets bombarded Daesh positions in the town of Shaikh Zuwaid, where the terrorists had taken up positions on rooftops and mined streets leading to the police station.
An unprecedented wave of Daesh attacks on Egyptian soldiers in the peninsula killed more than 100 people, officials said.
The armed forces said at least 100 militants were killed in clashes. The statement, which was aired on state television, said 17 soldiers, including four officers, were also killed. Thirteen soldiers were also wounded.
Daesh’s Egyptian affiliate, Sinai Province, claimed responsibility for the attacks, which were the most brazen in scope since terrorists launched an insurgency in 2013 following the ouster of Islamist president Mohammad Mursi.
“It’s war,” a military official told AFP. “It’s unprecedented, in the number of terrorists involved and the types of weapons they are using.”
The army said five checkpoints were hit by about 70 militants. One security source put the number of militants at about 300, armed with heavy weapons and anti-aircraft weaponry.
The terrorists withdrew from the town after almost eight hours of fighting, officials said.
Sources said the militants had planned to lay siege to Shaikh Zuwaid town, where most of the fighting has been concentrated, by hitting the checkpoints simultaneously. “But we have dealt with them and broke the siege on Shaikh Zuwaid,” one source said.
Roads mined
Army F16 jets and Apache helicopters strafed the region. Soldiers had destroyed three SUVs fitted with anti-aircraft guns, the army said.
Security sources said militants had surrounded a police station in Shaikh Zuwaid and had planted bombs around it to prevent forces from leaving.
The militants also planted bombs along a road between Shaikh Zuwaid and Al Zuhour army camp to prevent army supplies or reinforcements. They also seized two armoured vehicles, weapons and ammunition.
Ambulance medic Yousuf Abdul Salam said he was at the entrance to Sheikh Zuweid but could not enter because of warnings that the road was rigged with bombs.
Witnesses and security sources also reported hearing two explosions in the nearby town of Rafah, which borders Gaza. The sources said all roads leading to Rafah and Shaikh Zuwaid were shut down.
Militants yesterday unleashed a wave of simultaneous attacks, including suicide car bombings, on Egyptian army checkpoints in the restive northern Sinai Peninsula, killing at least 70 soldiers, security and military officials said.
The coordinated morning assaults in Sinai came a day after Egypt’s president pledged to step up the battle against militants and two days after the country’s state prosecutor was assassinated in the capital Cairo.
The scope and intensity of the attacks underscored the resilience and advanced planning by the militants who have for years battled Egyptian security forces in northern Sinai but intensified their insurgency over the past two years just as the government threw more resources into the drawn-out fight.
An affiliate of Daesh in Egypt claimed responsibility for yesterday’s attacks, saying its fighters targeted a total of 15 army and police positions and staged three suicide bombings, two of which targeted checkpoints and one that hit an officers’ club in the nearby city of Al Arish. The authenticity of the claim could not be immediately verified but it was posted on a Facebook page associated with the group. Except for the attack at the officers’ club, the rest took place in the town of Shaikh Zuwaid and targeted at least six military checkpoints, the officials said.
The militants also took soldiers captive and seized weapons and several armoured vehicles, they added, speaking on condition of anonymity in line with regulations. At least 54 other soldiers were wounded, the officials said. As fighting raged, an army Apache gunship destroyed one of the armoured carriers captured by the militants as they were driving it away, the officials added.
Main station shelled
Egypt’s military spokesman, Brigadier-General Mohammad Samir, said clashes were still underway in the area between the armed forces and the militants. His statement put the number of soldiers killed so far at 10, but the conflicting numbers could not immediately be reconciled in the immediate aftermath of a major attack.
Samir’s statement, posted on his official Facebook page, said some 70 militants attacked five checkpoints in northern Sinai and that Egyptian troops killed 22 off them and destroyed three allterrain vehicles fitted with antiaircraft guns. The officials said scores of militants were besieging Shaikh Zuwaid’s main police station, shelling it with mortars and rocket-propelled grenades and exchanging fire with dozens of policemen inside.
Northern Sinai has over the past two years witnessed a series of complex and successful attacks targeting Egyptian security forces, many of which have been claimed by a local affiliate of Daesh.
Two of the six checkpoints attacked yesterday were completely destroyed, the officials said. Army checkpoints in the area routinely have between 50 and 60 soldiers. The Daesh statement said the two checkpoints were hit by suicide bombers. The attacks came one day after President Abdul Fattah Al Sissi vowed to step up a twoyear crackdown on militants. Last week, Daesh spokesman Abu Mohammad Al Adnani called in an audio message on Daesh followers to launch massive attacks during Ramadan.
Militants in northern Sinai, which borders Israel and the Gaza Strip, have battled security forces for years but stepped up their attacks following the July 2013 military ouster of Islamist President Mohammad Mursi after days of mass street protests against his rule.
Yesterday’s attacks came in swift response to Al Sissi’s pledge the previous day to carry out justice for the prosecutor-general’s assassination — and possibly move to execute Muslim Brotherhood leaders, an Islamist group from which Mursi hails.
Pounding his fist as he spoke yesterday at the funeral of Barakat, who led the prosecution and oversaw scores of cases against thousands of Islamists, Al Sissi’s comments seemed to signal an even tougher campaign on the Brotherhood, Egypt’s oldest Islamist group that is now outlawed and declared a terrorist organisation.
Egypt has since Mursi’s ouster waged a crackdown that has led to thousands of arrests, mass convictions and death sentences. Mursi is among those condemned to die, but has a potentially lengthy appeal process ahead of him.
Al Sissi said the government was ready to brush aside criticisms and free the judiciary’s hand for a “battle” the country is prepared to wage.
“The judiciary is restricted by laws, and swift justice is also restricted by laws. We will not wait for that,” Al Sissi said.
Action will be taken within days “to enable us to execute the law, and bring justice as soon as possible,” he said.