The Armed Forces have announced Operation Martyr's Right will continue until Sinai is cleared of all terrorist elements. During the course of the campaign military spokesman Brigadier General Mohamed Samir will continue to provide daily updates on the progress of the military operation. Sources in Sinai contacted by Al-Ahram Weekly say the area where the operation is being carried out remains sealed off from the rest of the peninsula.
Specialised counterterrorist forces from the Second and Third Field Armies and commando, paratrooper and rapid intervention force units are taking part in Operation Martyr's Right alongside command and combat groups from the Minister of Interior's counterterrorism division. An Armed Forces' press release says terrorist militias have been thrown into disarray following last week's strikes in the areas in which they congregate. Having realised that it was only a matter of time until counterterrorist units destroyed their bases the militias have resorted to random suicide operations, using booby-trapped cars and explosive belts, said the press release.
The Air Force has been carrying out around the clock surveillance in Al-Arish, Rafah and Sheikh Zuweid, taking aerial photographs of terrorist hideouts which are then eliminated by forces. Apache assault helicopters are also being used eliminate hideouts and weapon stores in villages to the south of Sheikh Zuweid. The Air Force has also been used against the terrorists' technical and logistical networks, acting on the basis of precise intelligence furnished by the security agencies operating in Sinai. The operation has successfully closed off a number of villages to prevent terrorists from escaping to getaway points on the Mediterranean Coast or into the mountains of central Sinai where the rugged terrain and narrow wadis make ground combat difficult and offer many hiding places. Troops from the Third Army are deployed along all roads leading from North Sinai to prevent terrorists from fleeing south. The Armed Forces have expressed gratitude to the residents of Sinai for the help and cooperation they have offered army and police personnel involved in counterterrorist operations. Local inhabitants have reported any unusual movements or other suspicious activities to intelligence agencies. Sinai's residents, said a military statement, “are playing their their traditional patriotic role, side-by-side with the Armed Forces, as the first line of defence for the land of the Sinai and the protection of Egypt's eastern gateway”. According to figures announced on Sunday by the Armed Forces by the end of the first week of Operation Martyr's Right 349 terrorists had been killed and 292 suspects arrested in northern and central Sinai, and 22 vehicles and 113 motorcycles destroyed. Motorcycles are often used in attacks against checkpoints. Thirteen storehouses were destroyed, eight housing weapons and explosive devices and three food supplies. One workshop used to manufacture bombs was razed.
The Army Engineering Corps has successfully dismantled 149 explosive devices since the beginning of the operation, the majority of them planted on roads leading to terrorist hideouts. In addition, 372 buildings or congregation points used by takfiri groups have been destroyed by ground forces in villages located around Sheikh Zuweid, Rafah and Al-Arish.
The success of the ongoing operation has seriously eroded the capability of terrorist groups. They are now reduced to using motorcycles in their operations. More significantly, terrorist infrastructure — transport, hideouts, weapons stores, assembly points and communications centres — are being systematically eliminated. In order to compensate for or prevent further losses terrorist groups are deploying scouts to monitor the movements of the military. The army hands over detainees with criminal records to the interrogation agencies. Those who have no record and are not wanted by the police are released. According to the army's report 80 detainees have been released, suggesting that great care is being taken to ensure that innocent residents are not caught up in the conflict.
On Friday a terrorist bomb in Rafah killed a mother and child. An army statement described the attack as an attempt to sow divisions between the army and the people of the area. An earlier attack targeted a military vehicle in a busy residential area, claiming the life of Hussein Awad, a prospective parliamentary candidate, and two of his children. His wife and two other children were wounded. Operation Martyr's Right began on Monday, 7 September. It is the most ambitious counterterrorist operation launched in Sinai, an area in which terrorist groups proliferated in the wake of the 25 January 2011 Revolution, and consolidated their presence in the peninsula during the period of Muslim Brotherhood rule. Following the removal of Mohamed Morsi attacks targeting police and military personnel in Sinai rose sharply.
