Condolences have been flowing in for the death of 12 army personnel in a terrorist attack Friday 14 October by an armed group against a security checkpoint in North Sinai. The shootout also resulted in the death of 15 of the Islamist militant assailants who attacked using 4×4 vehicles. Six soldiers were injured.
President Abdel-Fattah al-Sisi posted a statement on his official Facebook page in which he offered his condolences to the families of the soldiers who had been killed, terming them “heroes”. He vowed that such tragic incidents would only “increase our determination and persistence to continue our battle for development and survival.” The President and military vowed to avenge the death of the soldiers.
Early Saturday 15 October, the Egyptian armed forces launched airstrikes against the Islamist terrorists’ hideouts and arms depots in North Sinai. On the Facebook page of the Armed Forces, an army spokesman said that the airstrikes, which lasted for three hours, were conducted basing on intelligence information and in coordination with the people in Sinai. A number of terrorist elements, said to have executed the checkpoint attack, were killed and seven 4×4 vehicles destroyed.
The army said in the statement its offensive on terrorists in North Sinai is still ongoing.
Ever since Egyptians in July 2013 succeeded in ridding themselves of the post-Arab Spring Islamist president Muhammad Mursi and his Muslim Brotherhood regime, Islamist terrorism has targeted Egyptians especially in North Sinai.
Military funerals were held for the victims, in which tens of thousands of Egyptians shared, paying their last respects to those young men who had laid their lives to defend Egypt.
Pope Tawadros II issued a statement in which he expressed the Coptic Orthodox Church’s deep sympathy with the families of the “brave men who sacrificed their souls to defend the homeland against vicious terrorist attacks”. The statement said the Church was praying for the recovery of the injured, and promised that Egyptians will always stand united before any attempts to harm the homeland.
Condolences also flowed in from Egypt’s parliament and cabinet, as well as al-Azhar and the Catholic, Evangelical, and Anglican Churches in Egypt.
Watani International
16 October 2016
