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Africa North
Hamas gunmen reportedly battling Egyptian security in Sinai
2011-01-31
[debkafile] - Egyptian reinforcements reached northern Sinai Monday, Jan. 31 to hunt down Hamas gunmen from the Gaza Strip battling Egyptian forces for control of the territory. Two were captured. debkafile's military sources report that the gunmen of Hamas's armed wing, Ezz e-Din al Qassam opened a second, Palestinian, front against the Mubarak regime on orders from Hamas' parent organization, the Egyptian Muslim Brotherhood, confirmed by its bosses in Damascus. The Muslim Brotherhood is therefore more aggressively involved in the uprising than it would seem.
Hamas -- moving down the scale from the legitimately elected government of the PA to merely the military arm of Egypt's Muslim Brotherhood.
debkafile's military sources report that Sunday, Hamas gunmen attacked Egyptian Interior Ministry Special Forces (CFF) stationed in the southern Egyptian-controlled section of the border town of Rafah and the Sinai port of El Arish. Saturday, Bedouin tribesmen and local Palestinians exploited the mayhem in Cairo to clash with Egyptian forces at both northern Sinai key points, ransack their gun stores and free prisoners from the local jail. Officials in Gaza City confirmed Sunday, that Hamas's most notorious smuggling experts, including Muhammad Shaar, had broken out of the El Arish jail and reached Gaza City.

Sunday, Hamas terrorists aimed to start pushing Egyptian forces out of the northern and central regions of the peninsula and so bring Egypt's border with the Gaza Strip under Palestinian control. Hamas would then be able to break out of the Egyptian blockade of the enclave and restore its smuggling routes in full. The reinforcements from Cairo Monday were instructed to drive them back into the Gaza Strip. Early Sunday, they began moving east through the tunnels under the Suez.

Our military sources further report that the Multinational Force & Observers (MFO), most of whose members are Americans and Canadians, are on maximum alert at their northern Sinai base, while they wait for US military transports to evacuate them to US bases in Europe.
At least they're getting out from underfoot, in case the internal situation becomes external in Israel's direction, instead of preventing Israel from responding. Thank you for whatever it was that y'all were doing there -- I suspect it was more than merely moral support.
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#4  Army uses the closest and cheapest that has off duty military driving for them to deliver it (Having proper military ID gets them in the gate quicker).

Something potentially this big probably has more than the Marines involved. Rangers and 82nd can get there faster than the Marines, but without most heavy gear. The Sky Soldiers (173rd Abn Bde) in Vicenza are the closest and fastest major US unit to insert (and have done follow ons with an armored unit backing them up in OIF) if needed unless we put some Marines and Navy into the Eastern Med (which has political consequences even if they don't deploy).

We had exercises in the 80's where we would deploy from Germany to the "Med" - meaning we would actually load out the gear, roll it off on one side of Italy, roll it back on shore in the south, after we flew in on transports, while the Abn secured the entry port and airfield prior to our arrival. Did it a few times on paper too, with deployment to "the eastern Mediterranean desert areas' as a general target.

Check the V Corps web site for the tools in that tool box.
Posted by: OldSpook   2011-01-31 23:11  

#3  We generally do Papa John's. It keeps better for the 3am "hungries".
Posted by: Pappy   2011-01-31 22:48  

#2  "debkafile's military sources report..."

This would tend to show with about 100% certainty that it didn't happen.

Posted by: crosspatch   2011-01-31 22:46  

#1  What do Marine contingency planners eat in times like this?
Pizza Hut?
Posted by: Richard Aubrey   2011-01-31 22:28  

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