Egypt - Researched and compiled by the Refugee Documentation Centre of Ireland on Tuesday 18 April 2017 Information on the current security situation including: generally in the country; in Cairo; & areas of the country considered safe In December 2016 BBC News states: “Six policemen have been killed and three others injured in the Egyptian capital Cairo when a bomb exploded on a main road leading to the Giza pyramids. The explosion, at a police checkpoint, was the deadliest attack on security forces in Cairo in over six months” (BBC News (9 December 2016) Egypt violence: Six police officers killed by militants in Cairo). BBC News in December 2016 notes; “A bomb explosion in the Coptic Christian cathedral complex in the Egyptian capital Cairo has killed at least 25 people, officials say” (BBC News (11 December 2016) Cairo bombing: Cairo Coptic Christian complex hit). This report also states: “Most of the Islamist militant attacks of recent years have been focused in the Sinai province, where an IS-linked jihadist group is active, but Cairo has also suffered a string of attacks in the past two years” (ibid). In February 2017 the Armed Conflict Location and Event Data Project reviewing events occurring in 2016 includes listing: “In Al Qahirah, 143 incidents killing 68 people were reported. The following locations were affected: Ain Shams, Al Abbasiyah, Al Amiriyah, Al Basatin, Al Maadi, Al Matariyah, Al Qasr al Ayni, Al Rehab, Al-Darb Al-Ahmar, Al-Nozha, As Sayyidah Zaynab, Az Zamalik, Bab al Luq, Bulaq, Cairo, Cairo International Airport, El-Salam, Ezbet el-Auqat, Fifth Settlement, Garden City, Halwan, Heliopolis, Mansheya Nasir, Maydan Alf Maskan, Nasr City, New Cairo City, Qasr Al-Nile, Shubra, Tahrir Square, Tura Prison” (Armed Conflict Location and Event Data Project (February 2017) Egypt, Year2016: Update on incidents according to the Armed Conflict Location & Event Data Project (ACLED), p.2). A document published in March 2017 by the United States Department of State reviewing events of 2016 notes that: “Terrorist groups, including Da'esh Sinai Province (formerly known as Ansar Bayt al- Maqdis) and Ajnad Misr, among others, conducted deadly attacks on government, civilian, and security targets throughout the country, including schools, places of worship, and public transportation” (United States Department of State (3 March 2017) 2016 Country Reports on Human Rights Practices: Egypt). A report released in February 2017 by Heinrich-Böll-Stiftung states that: “Northern Sinai has effectively been turned into a war zone…” (Heinrich-Böll-Stiftung (February 2017) Egypt's failing War on Terror, p.12). In February 2017 Reuters states: “Egypt is battling an insurgency that gained pace in 2013 after the military, led by Sisi, overthrew President Mohamed Mursi of the Muslim Brotherhood. Hundreds of soldiers and police have been killed” (Reuters (25 February 2017) Egypt's Sisi orders cabinet to help resettle Sinai Christians fleeing Islamic State). A report issued in March 2017 by the International Crisis Group states: “Islamic State (ISIS) Sinai Province (SP) claimed responsibility for killing army colonel 8 March and two police officers 9 March, both in al-Arish city, N Sinai. Army 23 March killed fifteen SP combatants and arrested another seven in raid in Sinai, ten soldiers and two police killed. Army 26 March killed five SP militants, including leading figure in N Sinai; 27 March killed eight suspected SP militants in N Sinai; gunmen same day opened fire on military checkpoint in Sheikh Zuweid, N Sinai, killing soldier. SP 28 March posted video on Telegram social media platform showing beheading of two men for “sorcery”. Militant group known as Hassm, reportedly Muslim Brotherhood offshoot, 8 March claimed it had killed Mohamed Zaini, whom Islamists accused of killing one of their own in 2013, outside his home in Damietta governorate, NE. Roadside bomb in central Sinai 20 March killed three civilians; explosive device same day blew up police vehicle in al-Arish city, injuring nine. Explosive devices 24 March killed one civilian in Cairo’s Maadi suburb; 26 March injured five officers on Cairo Ring Road, Hassm claimed attack” (International Crisis Group (March 2017) Crisis Watch). In March 2017 the Armed Conflict Location and Event Data Project notes in a report that: “February saw a shift in the strategy of the Sinai Province militant group as attacks on Coptic Christian civilians and a resumption of aggression towards Israel replaced attacks against police officers and roadside bombings that had occurred since 2011. Seven Coptic Christian deaths at the hands of Islamist militants in one week led to civilians fleeing out of North Sinai to avoid further sectarian targeting. This escalation in North Sinai is occurring while military efforts to quash the Sinai Province group over the past few months is scaling down…” (Armed Conflict Location and Event Data Project (10 March 2017) Conflict Trends (No. 56): Real-Time Analysis of African Political Violence, March 2017 [Egypt excerpt]). A document released in March 2017 by Voice of America notes: “The Egyptian government is struggling to counter an increasingly violent insurgency in the Sinai Peninsula targeting Egyptian police, security forces and Christians” (Voice of America (18 March 2017) Egypt Struggles to Counter Insurgency in Sinai). A document published in March 2017 by Reuters states: “Ten members of Egypt's military were killed when their vehicles were hit by two improvised bombs during an operation against suspected militants in the Sinai peninsula, the military said on Thursday. Three officers and seven soldiers were killed, the military said in a statement, adding that its forces killed 15 people and arrested seven others during the raid which it said targeted "highly dangerous terrorists" in the central Sinai area. Two policemen, an officer and a conscript, were later killed in fighting near a police station in Arish, the capital of North Sinai province the Interior Ministry said in a statement. Egypt is battling an Islamist insurgency in the rugged and thinly populated northern Sinai, which gained pace after the military overthrew President Mohamed Mursi of the Muslim Brotherhood in 2013 following mass protests against his rule” (Reuters (23 March 2017) A dozen Egyptian security personnel killed in Sinai fighting). Business Monitor International in April 2017 points out that: “The police force in Egypt is considered to be corrupt and largely ineffective, while security forces lack coordination. As a result, foreign travellers and expatriates must remain highly vigilant in urban areas and in the country's northern Sinai region. Conflict Risk (45.3/100): Violence between Egypt's security forces and Islamic State militants in the Sinai province is causing an escalation in the terrorist threat and social tensions throughout the country” (Business Monitor International (1 April 2017) Egypt - Q2 2017). A report published in April 2017 by the United States Overseas Security Advisory Council notes that: “There are a number of terrorist organizations known to be operating in Egypt, and terrorist attacks can occur anywhere in the country. Since 2015, terrorist attacks have targeted Egyptian government/security forces, public venues (tourist sites), civil aviation/modes of public transportation, and a diplomatic facility. Responsibility for terrorist attacks has been attributed primarily, but not exclusively, to jihadists operating out of the Sinai Peninsula, which remains a particularly restive area. Terrorists are active in Egypt's western desert -- the large, mostly isolated area west of greater Cairo and the Nile Valley -- including in the vicinity of various oasis towns. There are active military operations against terrorist elements in this region. There are also active military operations being conducted in Egypt's border areas with Gaza and Libya” (United States Overseas Security Advisory Council (7 April 2017) Egypt 2017 Crime & Safety Report: Cairo). This report also states: “Sporadic sectarian violence between Muslim and Christian communities remains a concern, most notably in the Nile Valley governorates of Asyut and Sohag, located between Cairo and Luxor…These governorates, along with the adjacent governorates of Minya and Qena, have long been considered areas prone to extremist activity and sectarian strife” (ibid). Human Rights Watch in April 2017 notes: “The suicide bombings at two Egyptian churches on April 9, 2017, that killed at least 45 people are a terrifying reminder of the escalating threats facing Egypt's Christian minority…The attacks during Palm Sunday services in Tanta and Alexandria, claimed by the extremist group Islamic State (also known as ISIS), were the worst day of violence targeting Christians in Egypt's modern history” (Human Rights Watch (12 April 2017) Egypt: Horrific Palm Sunday Bombings). References Armed Conflict Location and Event Data Project (10 March 2017) Conflict Trends (No. 56): Real-Time Analysis of African Political Violence, March 2017 [Egypt excerpt] http://www.ein.org.uk/members/country-report/conflict-trends-no-56-real-time- analysis-african-political-violence-march This is a subscription database Accessed Tuesday 18 April 2017 Armed Conflict Location and Event Data Project (February 2017) Egypt, Year2016: Update on incidents according to the Armed Conflict Location & Event Data Project (ACLED) http://www.ecoi.net/file_upload/5250_1486724601_2016yegypt-en.pdf Accessed Tuesday 18 April 2017 BBC News (11 December 2016) Cairo