by Dr. Shaul Shay
A recent attack on a military vessel north to Rafah is the second attack against a maritime Egyptian target in the Mediterranean, conducted by ISIS affiliated group and a part of the group's initiative to extend the theaters of conflict beyond the territory of Sinai. Dr. Shaul Shay on the region and the Islamic State's Egypt affiliate: Sinai Province
An
Egyptian naval vessel has caught fire near Rafah in North Sinai during a
clash with fighters affiliated with the Islamic State (Sinai
Province). The patrol boat spotted the fighters from the Sinai Province
group on the coast of Rafah on July 16, 2015, and engaged them. The boat
went up in flames during an ensuing firefight. The Egyptian military
said it suffered no casualties in the attack.
The Islamic State's Egypt affiliate, Sinai Province, has
claimed responsibility for the attack on Twitter. Sinai Province
released a statement saying its jihadists had carried out a rocket
attack on a naval vessel belonging to the "apostasy army" in the eastern
Mediterranean. A series of pictures released by the group, showed a
missile approaching and striking the vessel, causing a large explosion.
It is not clear how the boat was hit, but Sinai Province
fighters have started to deploy wire-guided missiles against tanks and
armored vehicles that could be used against the boat.
Egyptian officials said that the ship is a troop carrier
that patrols territorial waters and has frequently been used to
transport army and police personnel to mainland Egypt. The sea route
avoids the overland journey through Sinai, where Islamic militants
target government forces. The vessel has the capacity to carry about 70
men but it is not clear how many people were onboard when it caught
fire.
The attack on November 12, 2014
On November 12, 2014, an Egyptian Navy patrol boat came
under attack in the Mediterranean. Military sources have reported that
four officers and 13 soldiers were killed in the attack. The vessel was
conducting a routine patrol when it was attacked at sea by armed men on
four "fishing boats". The naval vessel had been set alight in an
exchange of fire with assailants. The attack took place off the coast of
the Damietta province in the country's north east, about 70km from
Egypt's shore. Air and naval reinforcement forces were summoned to
respond to the attack and rescue operations have evacuated the wounded
servicemen to a military hospital.
Two days later, on November 14, 2014, a group calling
itself the "Youth of the Land of Kenanah" (aka Egypt) claimed
responsibility for the attack on the naval vessel, declaring that it had
captured eight missing troops. The group made the announcement in a
video recording featuring four masked men against the backdrop of a flag
associated with the ISIS militant group.
An Egyptian security official claimed that the perpetrators
belonged to Ansar Beit al Maqdis (Sinai province) and they attacked the
Egyptian naval vessel that they thought was carrying 200 soldiers to
the Sinai Peninsula. The incident in the Mediterranean came days after
Ansar Beit al-Maqdis pledged its allegiance to the Islamic State (ISIS).
Islamist Insurgency
The Egyptian government is fighting an insurgency that has
killed scores of policemen and soldiers, against Ansar Beit al-Maqdis
(Sinai Province) and other Sinai-based armed fighters who launched an
insurgency after the army overthrew President Mohamed Morsi.
The volatile North Sinai region, where Rafah is located, is
an epicenter of a mounting Islamist insurgency. On July 1, 2015, large
numbers of highly trained assault forces, many of them suicide bombers,
backed by auxiliaries, staged several waves of attack in an attempt to
seize control of military checkpoints. Simultaneous attacks were carried
out in and around Sheikh Zuweid and Rafah, the area of heaviest
military and police deployment. Twenty one Egyptian soldiers and over
200 militants were killed.
Hamas denied involvement in the Sinai attack. Yet Egyptian
intelligence sources confirm that the Gaza continues to shelter
hundreds, if not thousands, of potential terrorists.
The attack on the military vessel north to Rafah is the
second attack against a maritime Egyptian target in the Mediterranean,
conducted by ISIS affiliated group and a part of the group's initiative
to extend the theaters of conflict beyond the territory of Sinai.
Israel has to take in consideration that Islamic terror
organizations like ISIS (Sinai Province), Hamas and other terror
organizations can repeat this model of naval attack against Israeli
vessels operating in the sea north to Gaza strip.
Dr. Shaul Shay
Source: http://www.israeldefense.co.il/en/content/sinai-%E2%80%93-epicenter-mounting-islamist-insurgency
Copyright - Original materials copyright (c) by the authors.
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