Egypt strikes militants after Sinai clashes

Published Wednesday, August 8, 2012

The brother (C) of soldier Mohamed Ibrahim, killed during an attack

at a checkpoint along the Sinai border with Israel and other 65 soldiers

by unknown gunmen, shouts as he carries his picture at the tomb of the

late President Anwar al-Sadat and the Unknown Soldier monument

in Cairo 7 August 2012. (Photo: Reuters - Amr Abdallah Dalsh)

Egypt launched air strikes near its border with Israel on Wednesday and killed more than 20 suspected Islamic militants, in a crackdown on jihadis blamed for a deadly attack on Egyptian border police, an army official and eyewitnesses said.

The airstrikes around the town of Sheikh Zuwaid, 10 km from the Gaza Strip, followed clashes overnight between armed men and security forces at several checkpoints in the north of Egypt's Sinai region.

Gunmen killed 16 border guards on Sunday in the bloodiest attack on security forces in the Sinai region in decades. They seized two armored vehicles to storm through the border into Israel, where they were eventually killed by Israeli fire.

Israel said Egypt's military action was a necessary response to deal with groups threatening security along the isolated desert frontier.

Witnesses in the town said they saw two military planes fly over the area and heard explosions. Other people near the town said they saw three cars bombed.

Troops entered the village of al-Toumah close to Sheikh Zuwaid as part of the operation after the army received information that Islamist militants were staying there, a military commander in Sinai told Reuters.

"We have succeeded in entering al-Toumah village, killed 20 terrorists and destroyed three armored cars belonging to terrorists. Operations are still ongoing," he said by telephone.

Israel stepped up pressure on Egypt's government to get a grip on lawlessness near the border, despite Egypt requiring Israeli permission to send forces to the Sinai region.

A 1979 peace treaty between the two states prohibits Egypt from deploying a large military presence in the Sinai, restricting Cairo's ability to deal with rogue militants.

The Sinai attacks prompted Egypt's powerful Muslim Brotherhood to call for a review of the treaty with Israel to allow Egypt to deploy forces in the region at its will.

Egypt Kills 20 Militants Using Helicopter Gunships

Egypt's army, nevertheless, promised harsh retribution for the attackers, with Israel granting Cairo permission to send additional forces in the region to tackle militants.

There was little sign of an immediate crackdown by Egyptian security forces until Tuesday night when armed men opened fire on several checkpoints in al-Arish town, the main state security and administrative center for northern Sinai.

Gunmen also attacked checkpoints in Rafah, Egypt's entry point into the Palestinian-controlled Gaza Strip that borders both Israel and Egypt.

A statement issued by the interior ministry said three policemen and one resident were wounded in those assaults.

The military response focused immediately on Shaikh Zuwaid, a town that has come under the control by Bedouin tribesmen as the authorities lost their hold over swathes of northern Sinai following the overthrow last year of President Hosni Mubarak.

The economically deprived town has come to rely heavily on profits from smuggling goods and people through tunnels into Gaza since the Palestinian territory was cut off from Israel.

In al-Arish, a town relatively developed compared to others in the region, residents poured onto the streets overnight to demand better protection from the government and arms to defend themselves after the armed men that attacked the town's checkpoints.

One of the checkpoints targeted on Wednesday had been attacked 28 times before since the uprising, the Egyptian state news agency MENA reported.

Security forces closed Arish's main highway shortly after the start of the military operation. Power, Internet and mobile phone networks in the area were shut down.

arlier on Tuesday, angry mourners wept at the military funeral in Cairo of the border guards slain on Sunday and Egypt began to seal off the smuggling tunnels into Gaza, according to another security source and an eyewitness.

Mubarak's government was a close Israeli ally, and cooperated with the Jewish state to secure the frontier region.

The revolt in 2011 made way for Egypt's first free leadership vote which brought into office an Islamist whose commitment to security cooperation with the Jewish state has yet to be tested.

The Brotherhood blamed Israel's intelligence agency, Mossad, for the attacks on Sinai, stating it was an attempt to undermine Egypt's revolution.
Israel denied the charges.

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