Egypt's army and police have led a successful clamp-down on an Arish terror cell in Sinai, reports Jailan Halawi In the early hours of Monday, Egyptian army and police forces launched a raid on North Sinai as part of a larger campaign to clear the peninsula of terror cells or groups aiming to disrupt the country's national security. The forces had moved into the peninsula on Saturday as part of Operation Eagle, designed to restore security to the Sinai after armed attacks at the end of July on the Arish police station and a natural gas pipeline in North Sinai. The attacks left seven dead, including one of the assailants, and more than a dozen injured. In Monday's raid, 11 suspects were arrested and one was killed, and a number of weapons were seized. Nearly 100 masked gunmen riding motorcycles or at the wheel of four-wheel drive vehicles had attempted to take over the Arish police station on 29 July. The men carried black flags displaying Islamist slogans, and machine guns, rocket- propelled grenades, mortars and automatic rifles were used in the attack. 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. Police and army checkpoints along routes leading to Rafah and Sheikh Zuwayed were immediately strengthened in an attempt to prevent the attackers from taking refuge in the nearby mountains. Fifty armoured vehicles arrived in Arish to reinforce the security presence. Against this background of heightened security in Sinai, Operation Eagle managed to score up a striking success for the security forces in the fight against criminal elements operating in the peninsula. The raid was launched on the basis of a tip-off that terrorist elements were active in parts of North and Central Sinai, notably in areas like Arish, Sheikh Zuwayed and Rafah. At dawn on Monday 15 August, security forces went to the Al-Dehaisha district in Arish and raided a house where five leading Jihadist or Salafist elements were known to dwell. The five reportedly included a Palestinian belonging to the Islamic Jihad Group in Gaza. One of the suspects was shot dead in the raid and another injured, with the rest being taken to the North Sinai Security Department. Three automatic rifles, four bombs, bullets and ammunition were seized, along with two computers. Six other militants were also arrested, these having a large number of arms and ammunition in their possession. Stolen army uniforms, and a large quantity of number plates, probably from stolen vehicles, were also seized. The suspects apparently follow Jihadist ideology, which has been spreading in Sinai due to its location and logistical convenience. Arms are easier to obtain in Sinai than elsewhere, and the peninsula's rugged mountains can provide refuge for criminals and outlaws. On Tuesday, an unknown number of armed gunmen, reportedly belonging to Jihadist groups, opened fire on the Al-Rayesa army checkpoint in Arish. None of the soldiers manning the checkpoint was injured. The attack came in reaction to Monday's Operation Eagle raid, in an apparent bid by militant groups to prove that they are still capable of hitting targets. The same checkpoint was targeted in January, leaving five policemen killed and 11 injured. The military prosecutor is currently interrogating the suspects arrested during Operation Eagle. Until law and order is fully restored in the Sinai Peninsula, the Operation Eagle raids will continue.
