Captured foreign fighters in Sinai said they were paid to fight Egypt’s military

August 7th, 2013

FAKE NEWS for the Zionist agenda

Special to WorldTribune.com

CAIRO â€” Egypt has claimed success in its latest counter-insurgency
campaign in the turbulent Sinai Peninsula.

Security sources said Egypt’s military and police have dismantled more
than 15 Islamist insurgency strongholds in northern Sinai.

Egyptian soldiers at the Sinai-Gaza border. /Said Khatib/AFP/Getty Images

The sources said the counter-insurgency campaign led to the capture of a range of foreign nationals, including those from Afghanistan, Gaza Strip, Sudan and Syria.

“The assessment is that most of the terrorists in northeastern Sinai are no longer operating,” a source said. “Many of them were arrested or killed, and the others fled to other areas of Sinai or left the peninsula.”

The sources said the military expected the Islamist insurgency to continue at a lower level throughout 2013. They said the captured foreign fighters reported that they were offered salaries and other incentives to
fight the new military-backed regime in Egypt.

On Aug. 6, two Egyptian soldiers were killed in an ambush in northern
Sinai what sources said marked a coordinated attack of Islamist gunmen and
vehicles. The attack capped a series of shootings toward police and other
security facilities in El Arish over the last two days.

The insurgency in Sinai rose dramatically in wake of the military ouster
of Egypt’s first Islamist president, Mohammed Morsi. The sources said the
unprecedented level of attacks on military and security forces in July
resulted from cooperation between Islamists and Bedouin smugglers to the
Gaza Strip. They said at least 22 militias were operating between El Arish
and Rafah.

“Those arrested talked about criminal elements directing the Islamists
to attack military and police positions that were established to stop the
smuggling,” the source said. “The criminal elements included Bedouins as
well as Palestinians from Rafah.”