Fifty killed in North Sinai attacks claimed by ISIL
ISMAILIA/CAIRO, Egypt - Reuters
AP photo
Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) militants launched a wide-scale coordinated assault on several military checkpoints in Egypt's North Sinai on July 1 in which 50 people were killed, security sources said, the largest attack yet in the insurgency-hit province.It was the second high-profile attack in Egypt this week. On June 29, the prosecutor-general was killed in a car bombing in Cairo.
The attacks raise questions about the government's ability to contain a Sinai-based insurgency that has already killed hundreds of police and soldiers.
ISIL's Egyptian affiliate, Sinai Province, claimed responsibility for the Sinai attacks in a Twitter statement.
The army had said five checkpoints were attacked by about 70 militants and that soldiers had destroyed three landcruisers fitted with anti-aircraft guns. Without giving a breakdown, the army spokesman said the death toll among soldiers and attackers had increased.
The militants have previously carried out some big attacks that have killed scores of security personnel, but in general they have focused on smaller-scale attacks.
The July 1 incident marks the biggest onslaught yet.
The exact breakdown of identities of those killed was not immediately clear. Security sources had said at least 36 people, including soldiers, policemen and civilians were killed and 38 militants were also killed.
The army spokesman first said 10 soldiers were killed or wounded and 22 attackers were killed. He later added that the number of deaths had increased on both sides.
Doctor Osama el-Sayed of El-Arish General Hospital in the provincial capital said 30 bodies had been brought in, "some of whom were wearing army fatigues".
Security sources said militants were surrounding a police station in the town of Sheikh Zuweid and had planted bombs around it to prevent forces from leaving.
They also said the militants had planted bombs along a road between Sheikh Zuweid and an army camp to prevent the movement of any army supplies or reinforcements. The militants managed to seize two armoured vehicles and boxes filled with weapons and ammunition, the sources said.
The insurgency based in the Sinai is seeking to topple the Cairo government and has managed to defy one of the toughest security crackdowns in Egypt's history.
It has intensified since 2013, when then-army chief Abdel Fattah al-Sisi removed President Mohamed Mursi, an Islamist, after mass protests against his rule.
Sinai Province said in its July 1 statement that it had attacked more than 15 security sites and carried out three suicide bombings.
ISIL 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 late April, the army extended by three months a state of emergency imposed in parts of Sinai since October after 33 security personnel were killed in an attack claimed by Sinai Province.
The army has taken several measures to crush the insurgency. Aside from bombardments in the region, they have destroyed tunnels into the Palestinian-ruled Gaza Strip and created a security buffer zone in northern Sinai.
The army was also digging a trench along the border with Gaza in an effort to prevent smuggling.
The measures have stoked resentment among some residents, who say they rely on the smuggling trade through the tunnels and complain of neglect by the state.
Under the terms of Egypt's 1979 peace accord with Israel, the Sinai is largely demilitarized. But Israel has regularly agreed to Egypt bringing in reinforcements to tackle the Sinai insurgency, and one Israeli official signaled there could be further such deployments following the July 1 attacks.
"This incident is a game-changer," an official told Reuters on condition of anonymity. "We are attentive to Egypt's needs, as always."
President Sisi said he would bring in tougher legal measures in coming days after the killing of the prosecutor, Hisham Barakat, the most senior Egyptian official to die in such an attack in years.
Sisi's government does not distinguish between the now-outlawed Brotherhood - which says it is committed to peaceful activism - and other militants.
Sisi regards the Brotherhood as a threat to national security. The courts have sentenced hundreds of alleged Brotherhood supporters to death in recent months. Mursi himself, and other senior Brotherhood figures, also face the death penalty.
