How Cairo is taking the fight to Sinai militants

Ansar Bayt Al Maqdis has killed hundreds of security forces since the military ousted Mohammed Morsi of the Muslim Brotherhood from Egypt’s presidency amid popular protests in 2013.

A house is blown up during a military operation by Egyptian security forces in the city of Rafah, near the border with southern Gaza Strip in this October 29, 2014 file photo. Ibraheem Abu Mustafa / ReutersShow less

HUSAYNAT, EGYPT // At a remote spot in the Sinai desert, a commander of Egypt’s most feared militant group outlined his hopes of toppling the country’s government.

“We execute the wishes of God,” the commander told a reporter who had been taken to the location blindfolded in mid-January.

The militant spoke in a small room with an open window. Outside, a desert wind blew over the barren landscape.

The militant said he was from the Ansar Bayt Al Maqdis group, which has killed hundreds of security forces since the military ousted Mohammed Morsi of the Muslim Brotherhood from Egypt’s presidency amid popular protests in 2013.

Last week, the group claimed responsibility for attacks on a military base and hotel in northern Sinai that killed 25 and wounded at least 58, including nine civilians. It was the heaviest toll on government forces for three months.

Despite those attacks, however, the extremists’ mission has become tougher: president Abdel Fattah El Sisi, a former head of the army, appeared to be gaining ground in his drive to crack down on the militant groups.

Even the militant commander said he faced greater difficulties.

“Our numbers are smaller than before,” he said. “Lots of people were killed. Lots of people were detained. Security forces are everywhere.”

Since taking office in June 2014, Mr El Sisi has neutralised the Brotherhood, taken bold steps to repair the economy and announced a series of mega-projects designed to create jobs.

He has also made a dramatic call for a “revolution” in Islam, saying that extremist militants are destroying the religion and harming its reputation.

All those ambitions depend on maintaining national security and taming militants in Sinai. So Mr El Sisi has poured more troops into the area and won support from some Bedouins, who have helped the army locate weapon-smuggling routes used by militant groups, security officials said. The tactics have brought gains.

Early last year, Ansar was in control of about a third of the villages in Sinai and several areas were no-go zones for the army. Now the picture has changed, according to the Ansar commander, security officials and Sinai residents. Their accounts of the struggle suggest the militants, while still capable of deadly attacks, have lost some of their previous momentum.

“A year ago we could not get to places where they hide,” said a police captain, referring to a traditional Ansar stronghold. “Now we are spread across north Sinai.”

In Husaynat village, a collection of one-storey cement structures in northern Sinai where chickens and goats roam, Eid Salman, a petrol trader, said that militants have all but vanished from the area.

Attacks by military helicopters, which once took place daily, have subsided, though there are occasional clashes at night, said Mr Salman.

“We used to see lots of Ansar pass in front of our house in cars waving their black flags one year ago,” he said, wearing a traditional Bedouin galabiya robe. “Now we barely see them. Life is much calmer.”

One measure of the pressure on the militants was how hard it was to meet the Ansar commander.

Last year similar meetings were far easier and fighters could be seen in the streets. This year, the militants were much more cautious.

After making contact with a Bedouin middleman, the reporter was blindfolded and had his mobile phones taken away. The driver who transported the reporter paused at the roadside briefly every 20 minutes or so in an apparent attempt to evade anyone who might be following.

Speaking with a heavy Bedouin accent, the militant said he and his comrades were inspired by ISIL and imitated their practices. Ansar recently changed its name to Sinai Province after pledging allegiance to ISIL, which has called on Ansar to keep up attacks against Egyptian security forces.

“We capture anyone who betrays us. We behead anyone who is a traitor. This scares other people so that they don’t act against us. This is the language and ways of Daesh,” the militant said, using an Arabic acronym for ISIL.

The government declared a state of emergency in parts of Sinai late last year and is clearing a buffer zone where Sinai’s north-eastern corner abuts the Gaza Strip. The militant said security forces have destroyed tunnels from the Gaza Strip, depriving fighters of what authorities say were vital arms supply routes.

“There are far fewer weapons because tunnels have been destroyed. It is difficult to move weapons,” said the militant.

In Sinai, Egyptian security forces have boosted their presence across the north. To combat suicide bombers, security forces had stationed police vehicles in front of checkpoints and increased the number of metal detectors.

A senior security official said Mr El Sisi had doubled troops in Sinai since last year. He would not give specific numbers. Checkpoints once manned by a handful of soldiers are now being guarded by about 30.

Though Mr El Sisi’s forces have made gains, the militants still pose a dangerous threat, both to lives and to Egypt’s fragile economy.

Two of last week’s attacks were notable for targeting Port Said and Suez, cities at either end of the Suez canal, which is a vital source of revenue for the country.

The military said those and the other attacks came in response to its success in putting the militants under pressure.

Successive Egyptian leaders have found it impossible to stamp out militants completely.

Egyptian officials say they have valuable information on Ansar leaders, but that good intelligence on rank-and-file fighters is harder to come by. The militants still live among ordinary civilians, blending into the local populace in a way that makes it difficult for security forces to identify them.

“People could come by now and talk to us pretending to be civilians and after a few days they blow themselves up at a checkpoint,” said a senior police official. Stepping up security operations could cause civilian casualties and spread resentment among Sinai residents, especially Bedouins who have long complained of neglect by the central government.

* Reuters