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Egypt Cracks Down on Jihadi Sandbox in Sinai

(Christian Science Monitor) Christa Case Bryant - The Egyptian military has a freer hand to crack down in Sinai after deposing President Mohamed Morsi and the Muslim Brotherhood last month. "The Army for the longest time has been holding back from interfering in Sinai," says Sameeh, a high-ranking security official in northern Sinai. "The elements in this area fear that they might lose this [strategic area] now that we have deployed more tanks and we're putting more effort into clearing this area, so obviously they are going to fight back." Sinai militants killed 16 Egyptian soldiers in August 2012 near the Egyptian town of Rafah. "A year ago there were the killings in Rafah, and Morsi promised that he would get back at those people who killed those soldiers," says Sameeh, the general, in a phone interview. "And nothing was ever done." Ansar Bayt al-Maqdis, which is also referred to as Ansar Jerusalem, is "the most important and dangerous" militant group operating in Sinai, says Maj. Aviv Oreg (res.), former head of the Al-Qaeda and Global Jihad desk in the Israel Defense Forces' military intelligence branch. It consists mainly of local Bedouin but also some foreign jihadis and was behind last year's Rafah attack on Egyptian soldiers, Oreg says. Ansar Bayt al-Maqdis has also claimed responsibility for at least three rocket attacks on Eilat over the past year. Daniel Nisman of the Israel-based security consultancy firm Max Security Solutions says there are about 1,500 jihadists in Sinai, broken down into 15 to 20 cells with varying ideologies, some of which are in line with al-Qaeda. Oreg says he's not aware of any formal al-Qaeda presence in Sinai, though some of the groups are in contact with al-Qaeda leader Ayman al-Zawahiri, who is originally from Egypt.
2013-08-15 00:00:00
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