Pakistan condemns the terrorist attack on Egyptian soldiers in Egypt…..
(By;Asghar Ali Mubarak)…..
Islamabad; Pakistan condemns the heinous terrorist attack in Sinai, which resulted in the death of 11 security personnel. The Government and people of Pakistan extend deepest condolences to the bereaved families. We pray for the early recovery of those injured in the attack. Pakistan condemns terrorism in all its forms and manifestations. We also reaffirm our solidarity with the brotherly people of Egypt. More overThe United States condemns today’s terrorist attack in the Sinai targeting members of the Egyptian military. For decades, the United States has been and remains Egypt’s strong partner in confronting terrorism in the region. We wish to express our profound condolences to the families of those who lost loved ones in this heinous attack. Earlier eleven Egyptian soldiers were killed on Saturday attempting to thwart a “terrorist” attack on the Suez Canal zone abutting the Sinai Peninsula, a hotbed of extremist activity, the army said. It was the heaviest loss the army had suffered in years in its long-running campaign in and around the Sinai against militants loyal to ISIS. Five soldiers were also wounded in the firefight on the eastern, Sinai bank of the canal, the army said, adding that security forces “are continuing to chase the terrorists and surround them in an isolated area of the Sinai.” President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi mourned the death of the troops, vowing in a Facebook post to continue fighting the militants and “uprooting terrorism.”
Two Northern Sinai residents said the attack took place in the town of Qantara in the province of Ismailia, which stretches eastward from the Suez Canal. The militants ambushed troops guarding the pumping facility, before fleeing to the desert in Northern Sinai, according to the residents who spoke on condition of anonymity for their safety. No group claimed responsibility for Saturday’s attack.
Egypt’s Sinai Peninsula has been gripped by an armed insurgency for more than a decade, which peaked after the ouster of late president Mohammed Morsi in 2013.In February 2018, the army and police launched a nationwide operation against militants focused on North Sinai. More than a thousand suspected militants and dozens of security personnel have been killed since the start of operations, according to official figures.In November, Egypt agreed with Israel to boost its troop numbers around the border town of Rafah in order to quell ISIS militants. In August, the army said 13 militants had been killed and nine of its soldiers were “killed or wounded” during clashes in Sinai, without indicating when the fighting had taken place. In recent years, pipelines carrying Egyptian oil and gas to neighboring Israel and Jordan have been the primary focus of insurgent attacks. It is important to note here that the Sinai insurgency is an ongoing insurgency in the Sinai Peninsula, Egypt, that was commenced by Islamist militants against Egyptian security forces, which have also included attacks on civilians. The insurgency began during the Egyptian Crisis, during which the longtime Egyptian president Hosni Mubarak was overthrown in the Egyptian revolution of 2011. The Sinai insurgency initially consisted of militants, largely composed of local Bedouin tribesmen, who exploited the chaotic situation in Egypt and weakened central authority to launch a series of attacks on government forces in Sinai. In 2014, elements of the Ansar Bait al-Maqdis group pledged allegiance to the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL or ISIS) and proclaimed themselves Sinai Province, and a part of ISIL. Security officials say militants based in Libya have established ties with the Sinai Province group and have blamed the porous border and ongoing civil war for the increase in sophisticated weapons available to the Islamist groups. The Egyptian authorities have attempted to restore their presence in the Sinai through both political and military measures. Egypt launched two military operations, known as Operation Eagle in mid-2011 and then Operation Sinai in mid-2012. In May 2013, following an abduction of Egyptian officers, violence in the Sinai surged once again. Following the 2013 Egyptian coup d’état, which resulted in the ousting of Egyptian president Mohamed Morsi, “unprecedented clashes” have occurred.The fallout suffered by the locals as a result of the insurgency in Sinai ranges from militant operations and the state of insecurity to extensive military operations and the demolishing of hundreds of homes and evacuating thousands of residents as Egyptian troops pressed on to build a buffer zone meant to halt the smuggling of weapons and militants from and to the Gaza strip. A report, compiled by a delegation from the state-funded National Council for Human Rights (NCHR), stated that most of the displaced families share the same grievances of palpable government negligence, unavailability of nearby schools for their sons and the lack of health services. Since the start of the conflict, dozens of civilians were killed either in military operations or kidnapped and then beheaded by militants. In November 2017, more than 300 Sufist worshippers were killed and over 100 injured in a terrorist attack on a mosque west of the city of Al-Arish.
