Sameh Seif Yazal, director of the Republic ‎Center for Strategic and
Security Studies, said an 8km area parallel to the border with the Gaza
Strip ‎should be evacuated of civilians and pronounced a ‎military operation
zone. ‎Egypt mulls fresh strategies in Sinai as fears grow of Islamic State
infiltration
Military analysts fear Syria-based militant group Islamic State could join
forces with Ansar Beit Al-Maqdis in the Sinai Peninsula
Ahmed Eleiba, Sunday 26 Oct 2014
http://english.ahram.org.eg/NewsContent/1/64/113950/Egypt/Politics-/Egypt-mulls-fresh-strategies-in-Sinai-as-fears-gro.aspx

The Egyptian government is considering plans to evacuate large areas near
the border with Gaza and Israel amid fears that Syria-based militant group
Islamic State (IS) is now active in the Sinai Peninsula.

At least 30 members of the security forces were killed in two attacks in
North Sinai on Friday, the latest in a string of attacks on army and police
targets, prompting the government to declare a state of emergency in the
region.

What characterises Friday's attacks, and others beforehand, is their
sophistication. Militants have the ability to track ‎army convoys and strike
causing maximum casualties.

Military and security experts told Ahram Online that there is no lack of
‎information about the militants, and dismissed the idea that the security
forces have been infiltrated by them, despite the fact that retired military
officers have been involved in some recent attacks. ‎

“It is very difficult to imagine that ‎there is a deficiency in the security
system as it is one of ‎the best in the region in dealing with this
(terrorism) file. However, there is always a chance for human errors on ‎the
ground,” said Major General Sameh Seif El-Yazal, an expert in national
‎security affairs.

Although there was no immediate claim of responsibility ‎for the attacks,
Ansar Beit Al-Maqdis, an Al-Qaeda-‎inspired militant group, has claimed
‎responsibility for similar attacks. Local observers and security experts
believe ‎it was behind Friday's assaults and that it ‎has links with Islamic
State.‎‎

“Many see the 24 October attack as a preliminary message ‎that IS exists in
Egypt, especially after its recent message to its “brothers” in Sinai
telling them not to move to ‎the lands of jihad in Syria and Iraq but rather
to ‎stay and support Ansar Beit Al-Maqdis, which will soon be ‎IS's Egyptian
front,” Ghazi Abu Farrag, a local ‎researcher, told Ahram Online. “We have
been warning ‎for months that IS is emerging in Sinai, whether under the
‎umbrella of Ansar Beit Al-Maqdis or another group.”

Leading Islamist militant Adel Habara, who has been ‎sentenced to death for
‎involvement in deadly attacks on soldiers, recently told a local media
outlet that “IS is ‎coming to Egypt.”‎

A local source in Sinai, who preferred to remain anonymous, ‎told Ahram
Online that the flow of money to recruit young ‎people to militant groups is
“not a big problem for them, and it is almost impossible to keep track of
these funds.” ‎

The source hinted that some of this money comes ‎indirectly through networks
in both Israel and Gaza. “Until ‎this moment Ansar Beit Al-Maqdis does not
seem to have ‎a problem with getting money, whether through these ‎financial
networks or through trafficking or arms trading,” he added. ‎

Communication also does not seem to be a problem, the ‎source added. “They
are not using local communication networks but ‎mostly networks associated
with the ‎Thuraya satellite phone. Some use Palestinian networks or even
‎Israeli ones. Even more, some have started using private networks with
coverage of up to 120km, which ‎are hard to trace with conventional
[tracking] methods.”‎

The army's next move

On the ground, Sameh Seif Yazal, director of the Republic ‎Center for
Strategic and Security Studies, said an 8km area parallel to the border with
the Gaza Strip ‎should be evacuated of civilians and pronounced a ‎military
operation zone. ‎

This idea seems to be a possibility, especially after the spokesperson of
the Egyptian cabinet Hossam El-Qawish told media on Saturday night ‎that if
such measurements were taken they would only ‎include limited areas and be
for a limited period of time. ‎"The government has taken a decision to
allocate the necessary funds to move the citizens from areas where military
operations are expected to be undertaken," El-Qawish told CBC-Extra private
television channel.

Local journalist Ashraf Sweilam told Ahram Online that ‎some tribal leaders
in Sheikh Zuweid had expressed ‎their enthusiasm for the idea because “they
‎are tired of militant attacks in the area which have left ‎them almost
paralysed.”‎

Yet military expert Alaa Ezz-Eddin does not think ‎evacuation will be an
easy task. “If it does this, Egypt will losing one of its most important
sources of information [the tribesmen] ‎and this is something we need to
consider when taking ‎such a decision or at least look into alternatives,”
he said.

Tribesmen in the area are one of ‎most qualified sources of information
about local ‎militants, he added.

‎“Yes the tribesmen are sources of information,” Abu ‎Farrag told Ahram
Online, “but we should also bear in mind ‎that it is getting harder for them
as Ansar Beit Al-Maqdis ‎punishes anyone they suspect of having connections
‎with the police or military.”

According to local sources, Ansar Beit Al-Maqdis warn anyone who deals with
the army to ‎leave the area within a week or they will be decapitated. ‎‎

“Some families have already moved to the Nile Delta for ‎this reason,” said
Abu Farrag. ‎

‎“Evacuation is a hard choice for the people of Sinai, who ‎have had a
bitter history since the 1967 war with Israel,” Abu ‎Farrag added. “And even
if the government has a plan to ‎compensate the temporary evacuatees it has
to keep in mind that the people of Sinai ‎are very attached to their land
and will not leave it ‎easily, even for better places.”

Abu Farrag and other tribal sources told Ahram Online ‎that jihadist
militants are now in control of some areas and ‎are even supported by local
residents who help them find ‎their way to safe places in the desert.