________ A to Z kerala .......... [kvk] [www.atozkerala.in , www.atozkerala.blogspot.com]
The Egyptian Army has been on a battleground for
one day since a militant group affiliated to Islamic State launched
simultaneous assualts on military checkpoints in North Sinai, killing 17
soldiers. The army also said on Wednesday that more than 100 IS
fighters have been been killed in the deadliest fighting in years in the
restive province.
After a day of fighting, which involved F-16 jets and Apache
helicopters, the army said it would not stop its operations until it had
cleared the area of all 'terrorist concentrations'.
By late Wednesday, an army spokesperson said the situation in North
Sinai was '100% under control'. Security sources and witnesses later
said aerial bombardments on militant targets had resumed.
Islamic State's Egyptian affiliate, Sinai Province, had claimed
responsibility, saying it attacked more than 15 security sites and
carried out three suicide bombings.
The militants' assault, a significant escalation in violence in the
peninsula that lies between Israel, the Gaza Strip and the Suez Canal,
was the second high-profile attack in Egypt this week. On Monday, a bomb
killed the prosecutor-general in Cairo.
Also read: Islamic State attacks kill at least 70 in Egypt
It raised questions about the government's ability to contain an
insurgency that has already killed hundreds of policemen and soldiers.
The insurgents want to topple the Cairo government and have stepped up
their campaign since 2013, when then-army chief Abdel Fattah al-Sisi
removed President Mohamed Morsi of the Muslim Brotherhood after mass
protests against his rule.
Sisi, who regards the Brotherhood as a threat to national security, has
since overseen a harsh crackdown on some Islamist groups.
An army statement said the fighting had been concentrated in the towns
of Sheikh Zuweid and Rafah and that the militants used car bombs and
various weapons.
Of the 17 soldiers killed, four were officers, and 13 more soldiers were wounded, the statement said.
Some security sources put the death toll for army and police much higher.
The army spokesperson told state television that a number of militants
had been arrested. He also posted pictures on his official Facebook page
which he said showed the bodies of scores of militants. They were
dressed in fatigues.
Security sources said the militants had planned to lay siege to the town
of Sheikh Zuweid. 'But we have dealt with them and broke the siege,'
one of the sources said.
Booby Traps at Sheikh Zuweid
Earlier, security sources said militants had surrounded a police station in Sheikh Zuweid and planted bombs around it.
The militants also planted bombs along a road between Sheikh Zuweid and
al-Zuhour army camp and seized two armoured vehicles, weapons and
ammunition, the sources said.
Suleiman al-Sayed, a 49-year-old Sheikh Zuweid resident told Reuters
earlier on Wednesday that he was not allowed to leave his home while
clashes were ongoing. He said he had a glimpse of 'five Land Cruisers
with masked gunmen waving black flags'.
Witnesses and security sources also heard two explosions in the nearby
town of Rafah, which borders Gaza. The sources said all roads leading to
Rafah and Sheikh Zuweid were shut down. The interior ministry in the
Gaza Strip, run by the Islamist Hamas group, reinforced its forces along
the border with Egypt.
'It is a sharp reminder that despite the intensive counter-terrorism
military campaign in the Sinai over the past six months, IS ranks are
not decreasing -- if anything they are increasing in numbers as well as
sophistication, training and daring,' Aimen Dean, a former al Qaeda
insider who now runs a Gulf-based security consultancy, said in a note.
State of Emergency
Islamic State had urged its followers to escalate attacks during the
Islamic holy month of Ramadan which started in mid-June, though it did
not specify Egypt as a target. In April, the army extended by three
months a state of emergency imposed in parts of Sinai.
Besides bombardments in the region, the army has destroyed tunnels into
the Palestinian-ruled Gaza Strip and created a security buffer zone in
northern Sinai. It is also digging a trench along the border with Gaza
to deter smuggling.
Under the terms of Egypt's 1979 peace accord with Israel, the Sinai is
largely demilitarised. But Israel has regularly agreed to Egypt bringing
in reinforcements to tackle the Sinai insurgency, and one Israeli
official signalled there could be further such deployments following
Wednesday's attacks.
'This incident is a game-changer,' an official told Reuters on condition of anonymity.
Sisi's government does not distinguish between the now-outlawed
Brotherhood, which says it is committed to peaceful activism, and other
militants.
The courts have sentenced hundreds of alleged Brotherhood supporters to
death in recent months. Morsi himself, and other senior Brotherhood
figures, also face the death penalty.
The cabinet, which met in the Police Academy for security reasons on
Wednesday, approved a draft anti-terrorism law, which it said would
'achieve quick and just deterrence'.
'Any terrorist or criminal attacks that aim to sow chaos ... will be
confronted,' the cabinet said, citing the interior minister.
In Cairo, the interior ministry said security forces killed nine leading
members of the Muslim Brotherhood in an apartment in a western suburb
after the men opened fire on them.
The interior ministry said the group were holding a meeting to plot
attacks. It said some of those killed had been convicted in court cases.
The Brotherhood denied the group was armed and said in a statement that
the killing was a turning point that could lead to repercussions by the
'oppressed'.
'The assassination ... will drive the situation down an extremely dangerous slope and toward a total explosion.'Reuters