Egypt: Security forces kill nine suspected militants in Al-Sharqia Dec. 24

Event

Egyptian security forces killed nine suspected Islamist militants in Al-Sharqia province early on Sunday, December 24 (local time). According to the Egyptian Ministry of Interior, security forces killed the suspected militants in a raid on a farm hideout at which the militants reportedly trained to launch attacks on nearby North Sinai province. The identity of the killed militants is still under investigation, according to the Ministry of Interior.

The Ministry of Interior also reported that police forces arrested nine other suspected militants in a raid in Cairo on Sunday. Those arrested allegedly have ties with the outlawed Muslim Brotherhood organization.

Context

Egypt remains under a state of emergency, originally declared following Islamic State (IS) attacks on churches in Alexandria and Tanta, which killed at least 47 people on Palm Sunday in April 2017.

The Sinai Peninsula has been the epicenter of frequent attacks by IS-affiliated militants since 2013 - usually targeting security forces or minority Coptic Christians. On November 29, Egyptian President Abdel Fattah Al-Sisi ordered the Egyptian military to stabilize the restive Sinai peninsula within the next three months, telling security forces to use "all brute force necessary" to restore security in the region.

Previously, Al-Sisi warned that the risk of terrorism had increased in Egypt as IS's major territorial losses in Iraq and Syria have caused many of its militants to travel to Egypt. Such groups operate on a smaller scale outside the peninsula, including in the Nile Delta.

Advice

Due to the prevailing threat of terrorism, individuals throughout Egypt should report any suspicious objects or behavior to the authorities and always be on guard when visiting sites deemed particularly vulnerable to an attack (public transportation, train stations, ports, airports, public or government buildings, embassies or consulates, international organizations, schools and universities, religious sites, markets, hotels and restaurants frequented by foreigners/Westerners, festivals, etc.). Some governments advise their nationals against all travel to the Sinai Peninsula due to the persistent terrorist threat.