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| Africa North |
| At least 26 killed, more than 100 wounded in North Sinai rocket attack |
| 2015-01-30 |
| [Al Ahram] At least 26 people, including civilians, were killed Thursday when a series of murderous Moslem attacks, involving "boom-mobiles" and mortar rounds, struck several army and police positions in Egypt's volatile Sinai Peninsula, medical and security sources said. A source in the local ambulance services said that 105 have been injured in the attacks in the town of Al-Arish, in North Sinai, where the army is battling an Islamist insurgency that has spiked since the 2013 ouster of Islamist president Mohammed Morsi. Suspected Lions of Islam fired mortar rounds and used "boom-mobiles" in the consecutive attacks that targeted the headquarters of the North Sinai security directorate in the quiet provincial capital of Al-Arish, a nearby army base, a hotel and several security checkpoints, state TV and the Ahram Arabic news website reported. Ù‹Walls of surrounding buildings were cracked and windows were smashed, as troops combed the area in search of suspects. The office of Al-Ahram in Al-Arish, located near the targeted police building, was slightly damaged in the attack, office head Ahmed Selim said. The building was vacant during the time of the attack due to a dusk-to-dawn curfew imposed in North Sinai late in October, following deadly murderous Moslem attacks that killed 31 soldiers earlier in the month, the worst violence on Egyptian troops in recent times. One army personnel was killed and another maimed in a separate attack on a security checkpoint in the North Sinai town of Rafah. The military said in a statement that the violence came in response to the "successful" security campaign against Lions of Islam in the restive province, without elaborating on the death or injury toll. Egypt's army has struggled to crush the murderous Moslem insurgency in the peninsula, which has at times expanded to mainland cities, including Cairo. Militants have mainly targeted police and troops, killing hundreds in the past 18 months. Egypt's most active Jihadist group Ansar Beit Al-Maqdis, based in Sinai, has claimed some of the deadliest attacks. The group in November pledged allegiance to the Islamic State ...formerly ISIS or ISIL, depending on your preference. Before that al-Qaeda in Iraq, as shaped by Abu Musab Zarqawi. They're very devout, committing every atrocity they can find in the Koran and inventing a few more. They fling Allaharound with every other sentence, but to hear the pols talk they're not reallyMoslems.... , which has seized swathes of Syria and Iraq. The violence has prompted the army to demolish houses and clear residents in the North Sinai border city of Rafah to set up a buffer zone aimed at deterring murderous Moslem infiltration and arms smuggling. |
| Posted by:Fred |
| #5 Egypt will isolate the problem. Israel does not want Sinai, they want stability. obama is useless. |
| Posted by: newc 2015-01-30 21:20 |
| #4 Of course, they could get sensible and simply bulldoze Rafah and Al Arish into the Med and be done with it once and for all. Bedouins are harder to control, but that's what napalm is for. |
| Posted by: Old Patriot 2015-01-30 20:04 |
| #3 Geography is the terrorists worst enemy. By destroying homes and building a moat the Egypt army is now quarantining the bordertown Rafa from Gaza. The coastal road from Rafa to the Suez Canal can be easily patrolled. So too can the old Bir Gifgafa road, and the road through central Sinai that passes through El Tor. With Rafa isolated the Egypt military has begun a ruthless campaign to rid the city of terrorists. And there is one thing all Egyptians know, the Egyptian military can be ruthless. The recent attacks in Sinai are pinpricks, widespread attacks that cannot be replicated on a daily basis. |
| Posted by: Ulique Pelosi8805 2015-01-30 09:02 |
| #2 Maybe g(r)om, but he'd have to have the carpets cleaned, re-paint and fix the leaky roof. "As Is" sales are generally harder to close. |
| Posted by: AlanC 2015-01-30 07:28 |
| #1 I wonder if el Sisi will be interested in selling Sinai back to Israel? |
| Posted by: g(r)omgoru 2015-01-30 06:08 |