The terror attack against military forces in Egypt’s northern Sinai last week was beyond a routine terrorist act. Arab security experts are calling it a turning point in the terrorist attacks in Egypt, explaining that the attack shows that Egypt is subject to the turmoil taking place in the Middle East and the local terrorist organizations in Sinai are extensions of larger terrorist organizations with regional agendas.
However, the experts do not rule out the possibility that the terrorist attacks were also part of the political agenda of the Muslim Brotherhood, with the aim of provoking anarchy in Egypt.
In the attacks that killed 45 people in the Al-Arish area, terrorists used advanced battle tactics and weapons similar to those used in terror activity plaguing other countries. Security experts warned of a new wave of cross-border terrorism in Egypt.
The jihadist Ansar Beit al-Maqdis terror group, which took responsibility for the attacks, tried using the attack to prove that it has moved from the local arena to the regional arena, especially after it recently took a vow of loyalty to the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS). The organization has organizational and financial skills that enable it to carry out large complex attacks in Egypt and abroad.
Mustafa Zahran, an expert on Islamic movements, told the Pan-Arab newspaper al-Arab (Arabic link) that Ansar Beit al-Maqdis, which is now officially called the “ISIS branch in Sinai,” is now operating at higher level of bellicosity and boldness after transitioning from a local to a regional framework.
Experts who follow the situation in Egypt call attention to the synchronization between the escalation of the attacks of Ansar al-Maqdis and the violent protests carried out by members of the Muslim Brotherhood on the occasion of the fourth anniversary of the revolution of January 25, 2011, that led to the downfall of Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak’s regime.
The experts do not rule out a connection between the two escalations, especially after an investigation by Egyptian security forces that indicated coordination between the Brotherhood and armed groups in the Sinai. Hisham al-Najjar, a researcher of Islamic movements, said that the attack in al-Arish was designed to influence the political landscape in Egypt with the approach of parliamentary elections. The group’s goal is to present the general atmosphere as unstable and expose the government as being unable to ensure stability.
Egyptian security officials also accused the terror organization Hamas of coordinating between the Muslim Brotherhood and extremist groups that carry out attacks in Sinai. They believe that Hamas provides weapons and a secure haven in Gaza for perpetrators of terrorist attacks. Over the weekend an Egyptian court declared the Izz al-Din al-Qassam Brigades, a branch of Hamas, to be a terrorist organization.
Former Egyptian General Farouk Al-Hamdan said that in this context the missiles that were used in the terrorist attack in Sinai did not previously exist in the area, suggesting that Hamas or Hezbollah was involved in smuggling them into the peninsula. He also thinks that Hamas may even provide manpower to organizations such as Ansar Beit al-Maqdis.
[Photo: Day Donaldson / Flickr]