An Egyptian court sentenced 230 people, including a prominent activist, to life in prison after their conviction for “rioting, inciting violence and attacking security forces.” One person was killed when unknown assailants firebombed a Kentucky Fried Chicken in Cairo.
How Cairo is taking the fight to Sinai militants
President al-Sisi has asked France for modern military equipment. Recent jihadist attacks on the Sinai, including a complex suicide and indirect fire attack that killed 32 security personnel on Jan. 29, have stoked nationalist sentiment in Egypt. A court has banned Hamas’ armed wing, labeling it a terrorist organization. An Egyptian policeman was arrested after […]
The group’s attacks are likely its deadliest since it swore allegiance to the Islamic State last November.
Egypt withdrew from an international meeting on Libya, protesting the inclusion of Qatar and Turkey, “countries outside the African Union.” A grenade attack targeting a bus injured three in Port Said.
Jihadists claimed to have bombed a pipeline in North Sinai that carries oil into Jordan; the claim is unverified. President Abdel-Fattah al-Sisi said that 208 people who had “taken up arms” against security forces were killed in 2014, and almost 1,000 were arrested. Sisi also argued that freedom of expression and protest rights were secondary […]
President Abdel Fatah al-Sisi released a statement claiming that free speech rights in Egypt are intact and that there are no political prisoners in the country, while calling for a renewed dialogue on Islam. A traditional Jewish festival that would have taken place on Jan. 10 did not happen as an Alexandria administrative court formally […]
Three Bedouins were beheaded by Ansar Bayt al-Maqdis in the Sinai for allegedly “conspiring with Israel,” according to the government; another man was shot and killed for “dealing with” the army. Three additional men were found executed in Rafah, and one woman was injured in a separate shooting.
Shiite leaders forbid insults against Sunnis
A court overturned the embezzlement convictions of former President Hosni Mubarak and his two sons. Egypt’s Grand Mufti, who had previously condemned the terrorist attacks in Paris, warned the magazine Charlie Hebdo about publishing its latest caricature of Mohammad, calling it an “unwarranted provocation” of Muslims. A police captain was found dead in North Sinai, […]
Two men were found decapitated in a village in North Sinai on Jan. 10; Ansar Beit Al Maqdis jihadists are suspected of the atrocity. One “terrorist element” was killed and one soldier was injured after a car chase in the Al-Wahat area of the Western desert. Unidentified gunmen shot at a police checkpoint in Giza, […]
Libya conflict threatens entire Maghreb
From Egypt’s leader, an ambitious call for reform in Islam
UAE flexes muscle in Mideast reaching beyond its role as finance hub
President Abdel Fattah Al-Sisi gave a speech during mass at an Orthodox cathedral in Abasseya, marking the first time an Egyptian head of state participated in a Christmas ceremony. Egypt’s leading clerical authority condemned yesterday’s terrorist attack in Paris.
A policeman was killed as he attempted to defuse a bomb placed near a gas station in Cairo. Terrorists killed two policemen guarding a Coptic church south of Cairo. President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi called for a “religious revolution” and reformation of aggressive interpretations of Islam in a speech made to a gathering of Egypt’s leading […]
A bomb blast in north Sinai injured at least five people, including two policemen. Egypt has started expanding its buffer zone with Gaza, a plan that calls for the destruction of about 1,200 residences. One civilian was killed and three policemen were injured when gunmen attacked a police checkpoint in Cairo.
Libya violence: Militants kidnap Coptic Christians in Sirte
In statements posted on Twitter earlier today, the Islamic State’s “provinces” in Egypt and Libya claimed recent attacks in both countries.
The Egyptian military claims that Tawfiq Awwad “Abu Seiba,” a commander of Ansar Bayt al Maqdis, was killed in a firefight with security forces in Rafah. Egyptian forces killed one suspected militant and arrested 11 others during operations in Sinai; the first phase of the government’s expanded buffer zone with Gaza will cost $70 million. […]
The interior ministry announced that security forces killed five Islamic State-affliated Ansar Bayt al Maqdis fighters in a raid in northern Egypt. President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi replaced the chief of general intelligence after an embarrassing information leak, citing health reasons. Egypt reopened the border with Gaza for the first time in two months on Dec. […]
Ajnad Misr says in a statement that the US is the real “terrorist” organization, and claims to be fighting a “global system” that seeks to thwart the revolution in Egypt. The group’s rhetoric is similar to al Qaeda’s.
The State Department today added Ajnad Misr, an Egyptian jihadist group, and Ibrahim Rubaish, a senior al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula (AQAP) official, to the US government’s list of specially designated global terrorists.
The army stated that it has killed 17 militants, arrested 11 others and destroyed 64 “militant sites” in north Sinai in the past three days. The Interior Ministry has expelled 40 Cairo police cadets for ties to the Muslim Brotherhood. The British Embassy in Cairo has reopened after unspecific security issues were “resolved.”
IS threat led to closure of Western embassies in Egypt
Egypt’s head prosecutor referred 439 “hard-liners” to military tribunals over violence that occurred last year after protests were broken up. Two policemen were killed in a drive-by shooting in the town of El Arish in the Sinai. At least 10 jihadists were killed and one vehicle destroyed in a government air strike on militant hideouts […]
Egypt looks to roll back Islamist militias in Libya
Kerry seeks authority to target Islamic State affiliates anywhere
Egypt has reduced the security curfew in portions of North Sinai from 14 hours to 11 hours, “to help people in Sinai earn a living,” according to President Abdel Fattah Al-Sisi. Sisi’s government faces criticism of recent measures implemented to counter terrorism and diminish the influence of Islamist parties.
An Egyptian court upheld death sentences for seven men accused of an August 2013 attack on a convoy in Sinai that killed 25 policemen. The British Embassy in Cairo has suspended services due to unspecified security concerns. Authorities have enacted new regulations that ban Egyptians from traveling to Turkey without a permit, in a bid […]