(Jerusalem Center for Public Affairs) Yoni Ben-Menachem - The massacre at the Sufi mosque in northern Sinai on Nov. 24 marks the first time Islamic State has committed a mass-casualty attack on Muslim civilians in Egypt. ISIS wants to demonstrate that, though defeated in Iraq and Syria, it continues to exist and remains devoted to its goal of creating an Islamic caliphate through violence and terror. Islamic State sees Sufis as heretics. In 2013, ISIS terrorists blew up the tombs of the Sufi Sheikh Salim Abu Jarir in Mazar and Sheikh Hamid in Al-Mughara, both in Sinai. In Nov. 2016, Islamic State terrorists murdered 90-year-old Sheikh Sulaiman Abu Haraz, the senior Sufi sheikh in Sinai. The Sufis' desire to take revenge against Islamic State for the mosque massacre appears likely to intensify clashes in northern Sinai between different armed groups The Egyptian army suffers from a lack of quality intelligence in Sinai. The terror organizations there, numbering 2-3,000 operatives, can merge into the population. They enjoy financial support and a regular supply of weapons that comes from Qatar, according to Egyptian intelligence. The writer, a veteran Arab affairs commentator for Israel Radio and Television, is a senior analyst for the Jerusalem Center.
2017-11-27 00:00:00Full ArticleBACK Visit the Daily Alert Archive