 [Al Jazeera] Egyptian President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi gave his security forces a three-month deadline to restore "security and stability" to the country's northern Sinai province, but experts say his strategy has already caused more damage to the region and its residents.
After the latest string of attacks, Sisi on Wednesday reiterated his pledge to restore security in a televised appearance, saying his government would use "brute force" against gangs in the area.
On November 24, more than 305 people were killed in a bomb and gun attack on a mosque in Bir al-Abed, a small town in Sinai, shortly after Friday prayers. According to local media reports, 120 others were maimed in the attack, which took place about 40km west of El Arish, the province's capital.
In response, the Egyptian military launched air attacks on targets in mountainous areas surrounding Bir al-Abed hours after the attack.
Sinai researcher and writer Mohannad Sabry said that signs of Sisi's "brute force" strategy already began to appear last week, when police and military forces began raiding the villages and residential clusters near the site of the attack.
"Locals have estimated that such raids detained dozens of people, mainly displaced over the past years from the areas of Sheikh Zuwayyed and Rafah," he told Al Jazeera.
According to Sabry, the detainees included several people who were leading a community effort to collect donations for the victims of the latest attack.
The Sinai Peninsula, a volatile desert region, is split into two governorates - north and south - and has been a hotbed for various gangs.
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