Egypt army action ‘disrupting Daesh’

Sinai campaign with 60,000 troops launched after phase of intelligence-gathering

Egypt’s military is conducting a sweeping assault to crush a resilient Daesh branch in Sinai. The operation was launched on February 9 after President Abdul Fattah Al Sissi, who is expected to sweep to a second term in polls this week, gave the armed forces and police a three-month deadline in November to wipe out the terrorists.

The deadline has since been extended, and the armed forces launched their most comprehensive campaign yet to end the five-year-old insurgency.

“Egypt is doing a really good job controlling the narrative,” said Zack Gold, analyst with the US-based CNA research group.

The Egyptian Ansar Beit Al Maqdis group pledged allegiance to Daesh in 2014, gaining expertise and logistical support from them.

EgyGreenfly, an anonymous blogger for Egypt Defence Review, wrote: “Whereas previous Egyptian offensives focused on a particular area independent of the others at any one time, ‘Sinai 18’ appears to have finally coordinated efforts across the country.”

The military has said about 60,000 troops are taking part in the campaign, launched after a period of intelligence-gathering in the peninsula. The operation is likely to weaken Daesh in Sinai, which consists of no more than around 1,000 hardcore combatants, analysts say.

“The military appears to be relying on a combination of air strikes and ground operations to degrade the capabilities of terrorist groups in northern and central Sinai,” said Stephanie Karra, research associate for North Africa with The Risk Advisory Group.

Daesh in Sinai “continues operations against security forces in the Sinai but it has certainly been disrupted,” said Jantzen Garnett, Middle East analyst with the Navanti Group analytics firm.