July 3, 2015 11 News & Analysis

Sinai terrorism picks up but Egyptians still see end in sight

Amr Emam Though this does not apply to the July 1st attacks, a survey of Sinai vi- olence may prove Sweillam’s view at least partly correct. In 2013, ISIS carried out four ma- oordinated attacks on jor attacks, including one on the se- security and army check- curity directorate in the Nile Delta points in northern Sinai city of Mansoura. The group also on July 1st resulted in the tried to kill former interior minister deaths of 17 soldiers and Mohamed Ibrahim with a booby- Cmore than 100 militants dead and trapped car. scores of others wounded. In 2014, the militant group The attacks were staged by more mounted six major attacks, in- Military funeral for Hisham Barakat than 100 militants who fired mortar cluding one on a North Sinai army rounds and detonated three suicide checkpoint that left scores of army razing hundreds of buildings. There car bombs against checkpoints in personnel dead. It also shot down have been reports that the army the North Sinai province city of an army helicopter, killing five peo- is digging a huge trench along the Violence tied to shift in Sheikh Zuweid, setting off clashes ple. Gaza border to deter tunnel digging. with the army as military reinforce- In January 2015, ISIS staged twin Addressing tribal leaders and Brotherhood tactics ments arrived. attacks on an army hotel and camp, public figures on June 24th, Sisi The attacks, which were claimed killing 32 military personnel and ci- said the demolition of homes on the Cairo the dispersal of two pro-Morsi sit- by Sinai Province, a branch of the vilians. border with the was his ins in Cairo and Giza province the Islamic State (ISIS), alarmed the However, Nabil Naeem, a former only option. he assassination of Egypt’s following month. public and ushered in wider specu- jihadist-turned-terrorism expert, Sisi’s fight against Sinai militants chief prosecutor Hisham Mohamed Habib, a former Broth- lation on the future of confronta- warned of the ability of the militant gained a new impetus a few months Barakat in a bomb attack erhood second-in-command, tions between the army and mili- group to attract recruits. He said ago when tribes in the peninsula led to calls for a tougher wrote June 29th on Twitter that by tants in Sinai. ISIS, which follows a line of think- publicly turned against the mili- crackdown on the Muslim assassinating the chief prosecutor, “By looking at the performance ing that considers “infidels” all rul- tants and vowed to help the army TBrotherhood, although the group the Brotherhood has nobody else of [ISIS] in the past few weeks, one ers who do not act along the ISIS battle them. This shift happened has not been officially accused of to blame. can easily notice that the group was viewpoint of the teachings of the soon after Sinai Province militants carrying out the attack. “I expect the government’s re- badly in need of a media victory Quran, continues to appeal to some targeting tribal leaders and civilians More than 17 soldiers died in action to be both strong and deci- through its local agents in countries disaffected young Egyptians. they accused of cooperating with the following two days in attacks sive,” Habib wrote. A few hours lat- like Egypt, Tunisia, Kuwait and “They mainly address ignorant the army. claimed by the Islamic State (ISIS) er, Egyptian President Abdel Fattah France,” Abdel Monem Halawa, an youths who have a superficial un- The tribes had been cooperating in the . al-Sisi said his country would use expert on Middle East affairs, said. derstanding of the Islamic religion,” with the army — by providing infor- “Young Brotherhood members the law to avenge Barakat’s death. “We also need to notice that [the said Naeem, who spent time with mation — against the militants for a publicly announce that they have “The chief prosecutor was July 1st] attacks in Sinai come only leaders of the group in Egyptian long time than this public show of opted for violence,” Sameh Eid, Egypt’s voice and those who at- hours after President Abdel Fattah jails. “These uneducated youths belligerency, according to a former an expert on Islamist movements, tacked on Monday wanted to si- al-Sisi threatened to implement are ready to believe anything said to army general. said. “This operation represents lence this voice,” Sisi said during death sentences handed down by them by the leaders of the group.” He said he expected the alliance a real shift in the tactics of these Barakat’s funeral. “Nobody can si- the courts to Islamist figures, in- Mohamed Abu Samra, a former between the tribes and the army members.” lence Egypt’s voice.” cluding ousted Islamist President jihadist leader who heads the Is- to have far-reaching effects on the Brotherhood Deputy Supreme Barakat’s killing was followed Muhammad Morsi himself.” lamist Party, said ISIS’s ideology ability of the authorities to end Si- Guide Mahmoud Ghozlan said re- by additional attacks across Egypt. appeals to a large segment of the nai terrorism. cently that junior Brotherhood On June 30th, bomb attacks rocked The July 1st attacks youth. He was quoted by the Arabic Nevertheless, the militants are members were responsible for at- Egypt’s provinces and the coastal in Sinai come amid a language daily al-Tahrir in April as still capable of staging painful at- tacks on the streets. These junior city of Alexandria. On July 1st, saying that that a large number of tacks in Sinai. On June 25th, they members, sources say, organised more than 60 security and army surge in violence youths had killed a resident of the North Sinai internal elections a few months ago personnel were killed in coordinat- across Egypt joined the militant group soon after city of al-Arish, kidnapped another and picked new leaders who advo- ed assaults on security checkpoints Morsi was toppled. and set a water tank on fire. Explo- cate violent confrontation with the in Sinai. Attacks took place as The July 1st attacks in Sinai come Egyptian authorities have sive devices planted by the mili- authorities. Egypt marked the second anniver- amid a surge in violence across cracked down on the Muslim Broth- tants on main roads in Sinai also New Brotherhood spokesman sary of the June 30th uprising that Egypt. Chief prosecutor Hisham erhood since Morsi’s downfall, ac- continue to claim military lives. Mohamed Montasser talks of the led to Morsi’s ouster by the army. Barakat was killed by a car bomb- cusing members of the group of be- One of the challenges that faces need to use violence in confronting The crackdown by authorities on ing June 29th and several Egyptian ing behind Egypt’s turmoil. the Egyptian Army in eradicating the crackdown on his organisation. the Muslim Brotherhood has been provinces were rocked by bomb at- Naeem said, however, that there militancy in Sinai was that the mili- Despite denial of responsibility severely criticised by rights groups. tacks June 30th. is much more to the appeal of ISIS tary force was only trained to fight by some in the Islamist organisa- Political analyst Abdel Monem The Egyptian Army has been to youths than just talk about the conventional wars. tion, others were less categorical. Fawzi links the surge in violence as cracking down on Sinai militants for aspired caliphate and “infidel” rul- Sweillam says, however, that The day Barakat was killed, Ahmed well to the scheduled August 6th almost two years. Militants stepped ers. He said former members of Si- with every passing day Egyptian al-Mughir, a junior Brotherhood opening of a new waterway along up attacks following Morsi’s over- nai Province have told him about troops acquire valuable experience figure seemed to condone the the Suez Canal. throw by the army in July 2013 but the enormous financial resources in confronting terrorists. violence. “To the next chief pros- “These attacks always occur Egypt’s military and terrorism ex- the group possesses. He said the “This is a war that will surely ecutor: Your booby-trapped car is ahead of any major events in this perts point to what they describe group continues to receive huge come to an end because as an army, ready,” he wrote on Twitter. country,” Fawzi said. “The aim is to as the “success” of the army in the amounts of money through tunnels we have patience, the thing the ter- Barakat was the most senior sabotage work done by the govern- battle for Sinai. on the border between the Sinai rorists do not have,” Sweillam said. Egyptian government figure to be ment for improving the living con- “Just do the maths and you will Peninsula and the Gaza Strip. “This means that we will end the assassinated since the ouster of ditions of the people and moving discover that this group is no longer The Egyptian Army has demol- war in our favour one way or an- Muhammad Morsi, the Muslim the country forward.” capable of staging major attacks ished hundreds of border tunnels other.” Brotherhood-aligned former presi- against the army in Sinai,” said Hos- and is trying to create a buffer zone dent. Appointed in July Amr Emam is a Cairo-based sam Sweillam, a retired general. along the border with Gaza, evacu- 2013, Barakat ordered contributor to The Arab Weekly. “Now, the group’s terrorism is lim- ating hundreds of families and ited to the planting of explosive de- vices here and there, but the army is more capable of dealing with them.”

Army trucks carry Egyptian tanks in a military convoy in El Arish, Egypt’s northern Sinai Peninsula.