CAIRO // Egyptian president Abdel Fattah El Sisi said his administration is “taking measures” on the border with the Gaza Strip a day after militants killed more than 30 soldiers in Sinai.
Mr El Sisi, flanked by military commanders in a speech on national television, accused “external forces” he didn’t identify of supporting the deadliest attack on Egyptian security forces in his five-month tenure. The government closed the Rafah crossing with the coastal strip until further notice.
The UAE strongly condemned the attack committed and emphasised its full support for Egypt and its armed forces.
“This cowardly act and heinous crime underscores once again the need for joint serious action and mobilisation of collective efforts at all levels to confront the menace of terrorism at regional and international levels,” the Ministry of Foreign Affairs said in a statement.
The statement added that this crime reaffirms that terrorism has only one goal and the method of terrorist groups, regardless of their forms, seeks to defile human values. This method, the statement said, contravenes all national and religious values and principles and only seeks to trigger chaos and spread destruction.
Mr El Sisi’s remarks signal a possible escalation in Egypt’s security offensive in Sinai, where attacks against the army and police have surged since Mr El Sisi led the ouster of Islamist president Mohamed Mursi in July last year. An increased clampdown on the border may further strain ties between Egypt and Hamas, the Palestinian militant group ruling the Gaza Strip and an offshoot of Morsi’s Muslim Brotherhood group.
“There will be measures on the border area with the Strip to deal with the root of this problem,” said Mr El Sisi, who spoke with an angry tone at times during the brief address. While vowing to retaliate against terrorism, he warned of more attacks to come in what he described as an “existential battle” for Egypt.
Ziad Akl, a senior researcher at Al Ahram Center for Political and Strategic Studies in Cairo, said closing the Rafah border crossing indicates that the government is “de- prioritising the political relationship with Hamas and elevating security considerations”. He expects “more radicalism in the government’s discourse going forward”.
While Egypt helped broker a ceasefire agreement that ended a 50-day conflict between Israel and Hamas in August, security forces have destroyed dozens of tunnels on the border with Gaza, which the Palestinians say are used to funnel essential goods. Israel says the tunnels are also used to smuggle weapons.
Egytian authorities may evacuate a 14-kilometre stretch along the Gaza border that contains smuggling tunnels and build a city to house its residents, state-run news website reported, citing an official it didn’t identify.
Egypt has declared a three-month state of emergency in parts of Sinai, including a night-time curfew, following two attacks on military checkpoints yesterday. Thirty-three soldiers were killed, the state-run Middle East News Agency said. A policeman was injured by gunfire in another attack in Al Arish today, Mena reported.
The Al Qaeda-inspired Ansar Bayt Al Maqdis has claimed responsibility for previous attacks in the region, including two bombings in September that killed 17 policemen.
Mr El Sisi, a former defence minister, has blamed the Brotherhood for much of the violence against the security forces. The group denies the charge, saying it is focused on peaceful protests against its ouster from government after winning a series of elections.
Egyptian authorities have also expressed concern that militants are finding it easy to obtain weapons in neighboring Libya, which has slid into chaos amid feuds between rival armed groups since the overthrow of Muammar Qaddafi in 2012.
The Sinai militants are receiving training from ISIL, which may extend that support to other groups in Egypt, according to Anthony Skinner, head of analysis at UK-based risk forecasting company Maplecroft.
That, coupled with the availability of arms in Libya, means that “militant Islam is unlikely to be vanquished in the short or medium-term in Egypt,” he said by email.
Friday’s incident was the latest in a string of bloody attacks against security forces in Egypt.
In August 2013, just weeks after the army ousted Morsi, 25 soldiers were killed in the Sinai when gunmen opened fire at two buses transporting troops with automatic rifles and rocket launchers.
In July this year, 22 border guards were killed in the western desert near the border with Libya.
From the desert and mountainous Sinai, which borders the Gaza Strip and Israel, the attacks have also extended to the capital and the Nile Delta to the north.
Ansar Beit Al Maqdis tried to assassinate the interior minister in Cairo last year with a car bomb.
* Bloomberg, WAM and Agence France-Press
