Blasts and Assassinations against the Egyptian Army

Marwa Muhammad- Cairo

Once again, security events are pressuring the Egyptian scene as the political crisis dominates. All concerned parties maintain their stances, while the chances of a dialogue are becoming very rare as bombings and assassinations take over.

Several activists, legal experts have condemned the recent suicidal attack targeted soldiers' convoy in al- Ariesh which resulted in 12 killed and 28 injured soldiers. This attack comes after assassinating lieutenant colonel Muhammad Mabrok last Sunday. Mabrok was responsible for the Muslim Brotherhood file in the national security department at the ministry of home affairs.
Muhammad Zare, the legal activist and attorney, told al-Ahed News Website, "these crimes represent the most dangerous violations of human rights and the government has to strongly chase their doers and their inciters. In order to protect the society, the government should sue these criminals in fair trial.
Zare accused Muslim Brotherhood of backing these terrorist attacks and violent acts in Egypt, not "Bait al-Makdis" group which adopted the terrorist attack in Sinai today that resulted in killing a security officer. Muslim Brotherhood is the only beneficiary of this attack. "Bait al-Makdis" is the main successor of "Tawhid and Jihad" group that was founded in Sinai 10 years ago. He explained, "The hidden target of using the name of "Bait al-Makdis" is camouflaging the international and the local organization of Muslim brotherhood. They want to blame attacks on other parties in a failed attempt to hide the truth of this organization's crimes against the Egyptians".

Nabil Naim, a leader in "Jihad" group stated that if "Bait al-Makdis" really exists, then it should be a "takfiri" (radical) group that has hard feelings towards Muslim brotherhood. This is not a new attitude for takfiri groups regarding Muslim brotherhood.

Accordingly, they will not launch a terrorist attack for Muslim brotherhood's sake or to avenge them. He clarified that such a group is fabricated by the intelligence and has nothing to do with the jihadist movements. They are an illusion created by the Egyptian security to blame for everything so they will not look helpless.

The military expert, major-general Mahmoud Zahran sees that "the terrorists acts are a natural result for the recent pressuring Muslim Brotherhood and its affiliated groups". He pointed out that these "individual acts against the army and the police are expected. Such acts follow signs or instructions sent by the international organization of these groups to create anxiety and fear in Egypt trying to show the weakness of the state. Thus, citizens and the society must confront these acts by immediate report of any suspicious behavior. Egypt is a significant country and many countries have ill-intentions towards it. Israel, US or many other countries might be involved in such terrorist attacks.

On the other hand, Imad Jad, the political expert in al-Ahram Center for Political and Strategic Studies, has a different point of view, " these bombings are a natural result for the loose reaction of the political and security authorities although the country can be strong", he indicated, "the region where the attack took place in al-Ariesh is open and totally clear for multi-national forces. How can such an attack happen?" Jad also said "this accident assures that we should reconsider Camp David Agreement so we can relocate the Egyptian forces. There is an urging questioning of how a strategic place like Sinai that is 58 km n width and 250 km in length, neighboring an enemy state "Israel" has only 700 soldiers? "

Source: al-Ahed news