Security and military forces begin to tighten their grip on north and central Sinai following an attempt to take over the police headquarters in Arish, reports Jailan Halawi A hitherto unknown group, Al-Qaeda in Sinai, posted a statement on the Internet on Monday demanding Sinai become an Islamic Caliphate. It urged Egypt's Armed Forces to breach the Camp David Treaty and interfere to end the siege on Gaza. The statement came amid speculation over the motives behind the Friday, 30 July and early-Saturday-hours armed attacks on Arish police station and a natural gas pipeline north of Sinai. The attacks left seven dead, including one of the assailants, and more than a dozen injured. Police and army checkpoints along routes leading to Rafah and Sheikh Zuwayed have been strengthened in an attempt to prevent the attackers from taking refuge in the nearby mountains. Fifty armoured vehicles arrived in Arish on Monday to reinforce the security presence. Fifteen suspects have been arrested. Ten have been identified as Palestinian, three of whom are being treated in Arish General Hospital for injuries sustained in the clashes. The identity of the remaining five suspects has not been released. Nearly 100 masked gunmen, on motorcycles and in four-wheel drives, tried to take over Arish police station on Friday 29 July. They were carrying black flags displaying Islamist slogans. The assailants used machine guns, rocket-propelled grenades, mortars and automatic rifles. A policeman, an army officer and three civilians near the station -- including a 70-year-old man and a 13-year-old boy -- were killed in the nine-hour shoot-out with police and security forces. According to some reports, one of the attackers was also killed and three were injured. On Monday night, six masked men in a four-wheel-vehicle arrived at Arish General Hospital and removed the corpse of an 18-year-old Palestinian national, named as Alaa Mohamed El-Masri. There are reports that El-Masri was killed during the Friday attacks. The masked gunmen took the back door of the hospital, threatened the morgue's guards and then drove off with the body. On Monday, Bedouin sources from North Sinai were quoted as saying that the attackers came from Al-Qoria village near Sheikh Zuwayed, a hotbed of Jihadi Salafis. They claim the group has been vocal about its intentions, boasting of its involvement in bombing the gas pipeline to Israel and Jordan. Arish's military commander, however, has been quoted as saying the attacks were connected to Mohamed Dahlan, a former member of Fatah's central committee. Dahlan denies any involvement. The assault on the police station was followed by an overnight attack on the cooling system of the pipeline to Israel. The attack, the fifth on the pipeline since February, was launched by gunmen using rocket-propelled grenades. No casualties were reported. The pipeline has been empty of gas since it was attacked on 11 July.
