Egypt prepares Sinai sweep after deadly attack
AP Mon, 06/08/2012 - 13:50
http://www.egyptindependent.com/news/egypt-prepares-sinai-sweep-after-deadly-attack

ARISH — Egypt deployed helicopter gunships to the Sinai Peninsula on Monday
to hunt for the militants who killed 16 soldiers at a checkpoint along the
border with Israel, according to security and military officials. Israel
meanwhile stepped up pressure on Egypt to clamp down on the lawless border
zone.

The officials said two attack helicopters had been sent and more were
expected to arrive in the border town of Arish as Egyptian security forces
prepared to sweep the region, which has experienced a surge of violence
since the ouster of Hosni Mubarak's regime last year.

Suspected Islamists attacked the checkpoint on Sunday, killing the soldiers
before stealing two of their vehicles and bursting through a security fence
into Israel. Israeli officials say the attack was quickly spotted, hit with
an airstrike, and at least eight militants were killed.

Large numbers of troops from the 2nd Field Army also arrived in Sinai,
sealing off the peninsula after the bloody attack, witnesses told the German
news agency DPA. They said troops crossed the Suez Canal on their way to
Rafah and Arish, and added that police and army forces were deployed at all
major entrances and exits in Sinai.

Troops were also stationed at underground tunnels areas on the Egyptian side
of Rafah. Security sources told DPA that contacts are being made with the
Hamas government in Gaza to close the underground tunnels entirely and to
deny entry to any person from the Palestinian side. Hamas had also been
informed of Egypt's decision to close the Rafah land crossing with Gaza
indefinitely.

Egypt and Israel say both Islamist militants from the Sinai and Palestinian
allies from the neighboring Gaza Strip are active in the northern Sinai,
attacking both Egyptian security forces and staging raids across the border
into Israel. This attack was one of the deadliest in years.

The unrest in the Sinai poses a daunting challenge to President Mohamed
Morsy, who since coming to office a little more than a month ago has warmed
up to Gaza's Hamas rulers. Hamas officials have condemned the killing of the
Egyptian soldiers, but Morsy may still come under pressure to back down from
plans to end Egypt's cooperation with the Israeli blockade of the Gaza
Strip.

He vowed on Sunday night to make the killers pay for their crime and to
restore security to Sinai, home to several of the most popular Red Sea
resorts in Egypt. On Monday, he declared three days of mourning for the
victims, according to state television.

The Sinai border has been largely quiet for most of the three decades since
Israel and Egypt signed a peace agreement, although security forces have for
years combated a low-level insurgency in Arish and nearby areas. The 1979
treaty restricts the number of troops and the type of weapons Egypt can
deploy there.

The peninsula has experienced a security vacuum since Mubarak's overthrow in
February 2011, and both cross-border and other insurgent attacks have
increased. Israel has agreed in the past to Egypt sending reinforcements to
bolster its forces there, but the Egyptian officials did not say whether
Israel had signed off on the helicopter deployment.

The officials spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not
authorized to speak to the media.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Monday paid an unannounced
visit to the site where the militants broke through, praising Israeli
security forces for their swift and effective response and expressing regret
for the loss of the Egyptian lives.

"Israel and Egypt have a shared interest in maintaining a quiet border,"
Netanyahu said. "But when talking about the security of Israeli citizens,
Israel must and will rely only on itself," he added.

Other Israeli officials gave more details of the attack and their response.

Brigadier General Yoav Mordechai told army radio that after killing the
soldiers, the militants seized a truck and an armored car, then blew up one
of the vehicles to punch a hole through a security fence to enter Israel. He
said the gunmen were armed with explosive devices, submachine guns and
grenades.

He said that Israeli intelligence services had reports of impending
infiltration and sent aircraft to strike as the militants broke through.

"We were prepared for it, so there was a hit," he said. He said the military
"averted a major attack on southern Israel."

In a video clip released by the military, Israeli military chief Lieutenant
General Benny Gantz said the incident was over within 15 minutes on the
Israeli side. Defense Minister Ehud Barak told parliament that eight
militants were killed by Israeli forces who struck from the air, as well as
with tanks and artillery.

The attack was the third cross-border infiltration since Mubarak's
overthrow. In one, in August 2011, eight Israelis were killed. Israel is
building a fence along the border to block militants as well as illegal
African migrants, but also wants Egypt to crack down harder on the border
region.

"We hope this will be a fitting wakeup call for the Egyptians to take things
in hand on their side more forcefully," Barak told parliament's foreign
affairs and defense committee on Monday.

Egypt-Israel relations have always been cool but since Mubarak was
overthrown and Islamists rose to power, Israeli officials have expressed
concern that ties would further deteriorate. Israel is particularly
concerned that Egypt will ease restrictions on entering and leaving the Gaza
Strip.

Sunday's attack took place around sunset near the Egyptian border town of
Rafah, when the troops at the checkpoint were having the traditional meal at
the end of the daily fast during the Muslim holy month of Ramadan.

Immediately after, Egypt shut the Rafah crossing with Gaza, an ominous sign
for the Palestinian territory's 1.6 million people. Israel bars Gazans from
entering Israel, so the Rafah crossing — the only exit from the tiny coastal
territory not under direct Israeli control — is their sole gateway to the
outside world.

Gaza officials disowned the attack but gave mixed signals over whether
residents of the territory may have carried it out.

Gaza's deputy prime minister, Mohamed Awad of the ruling Hamas movement,
said militants from the territory were "not involved in this awful crime."
But a leading Hamas member, Mohamed Zahar, undercut that denial, telling Al
Jazeera TV that he asked Egypt to provide the names of possible suspects
from Gaza so that "we will immediately bring them to justice."

The attack could harm Hamas' efforts to persuade Morsy to ease restrictions
at the crossing. Hamas is an offshoot of the Muslim Brotherhood and had
hoped that Morsy, a fellow member of the region-wide movement, would be
sympathetic to its requests. But he has moved cautiously, in part because of
concerns about an influx of militants from Gaza.

Amy Teibel reported from Jerusalem. Associated Press reporters Ibrahim
Barzak in Gaza City, Gaza Strip, and Mohammed Daraghmeh in Ramallah, West
Bank, contributed to this report.