CAIRO - The purpose of the ongoing mobilisation of soldiers and armoured vehicles in Sinai is to liberate seven soldiers kidnapped by some militant Jihadists in the Peninsula. While they were travelling from el-Arish to Rafah last Thursday, the soldiers' microbus was intercepted by some masked gunmen who kidnapped them, in order to force the authorities to release some prisoners accused of murdering some policemen in an attack on el-Arish Police Station a few months ago. All efforts to reach an agreement with the kidnappers to release the soldiers having failed, the military has decided to mobilise more soldiers to crack down on the different terrorist spots in Sinai. This fierce confrontation could be the biggest since the operation conducted last August, in the wake of the murder of 16 soldiers on the border while breaking their Ramadan fast. The army launched that operation to flush out the militant groups that had a high profile in the Sinai Peninsula, because of the fragile security situation following the January 25 Revolution. The Armed Forces have tried to restore order in the Peninsula, but it seems that the situation seems too complicated to be settled via a military operation alone. For one thing, there is the tribal problem and the deep sense of injustice the citizens of Sinai feel because successive governments have apparently neglected Sinai's development. There is also a deep state of enmity between the people of Sinai and the security agency that used to arrest them en masse, whenever there was a terrorist accident in the Peninsula. That is why the Armed Forces are trying to clear Sinai of its armed terrorists without violating the traditional norms and customs of the tribes. Meanwhile, they cannot ignore the fact that Sinai's security is being breached by some external elements, because of the many tunnels been dug between Egypt and Gaza. Hence, the decision to demolish these tunnels, for the sake of national security. This seems to have angered some parties in Gaza and Egypt, especially as there are Islamists in the ruling authority. However, the Ministry of Defence has made it clear that it is the mission of the Armed Forces to protect Egypt's borders and security. One cannot limit the abduction of some soldiers to merely an attempt to release some Jihadist Salafists from prison. Rather, it is an attempt to challenge and weaken state security. Therefore, the decision to use force on these terrorists is right, as these terrorists should not be supported by any Islamist political party.
