Armed militants attack army vehicles in Sinai

A group armed with machine guns stole an Egyptian army vehicle while circulating in al-Arish on Sunday evening. The group, on board of a SUV car without number plates, stopped the army vehicle and threatened the personnel with machine guns  while circulating in Jisr al-Wadi area. Its believed the theft was intended to pressure the government in to releasing criminal detainees in the area. The group fled into an unknown area in the desert after stealing the vehicle, leaving the officer and the soldier, according to sources. North Sinai Security sources said new security measure have been applied by security forces and that this is the first incident of its kind on Sinai’s territory. Since August, Sinai has witnessed increasing security operations as armed forces hunt for wanted persons described  as “Islamic extremists”. This follows the attack on a border checkpoint in Egyptian Rafah which lead to the death of 16 Egyptian officers and a soldier. Security forces have been asked to carefully inspect any car and identify everyone on board. Security ambushes have been spread in search of the stolen vehicle over all the roads. According to a source, the security authorities do not plan to expand the search area against the wanted Jihadi groups in revenge for the stolen car. The operations are done according to a pre-scheduled plan and in compliance with intelligence received about the location of the groups, the sources added. Major General Ahmed Bakr, head of North Sinai security forces, denied receiving any memos raising the alert because extremists intend to attack security headquarters in Sinai or attack Israel. He added that the forces available in Sinai are in complete and total readiness since the beginning of the military operation “eagle” last August. In other news, dozens of al-Maghara residents in mid Siani cut al-Arich – Baghdad road in protest against the security forces arresting three residents in the area. They demanded their release, burning car wheels and stopping cars from driving in both lanes. Hundreds of the residents of al-Reisa neighbourhood of al-Arish cut the international road al-Arish - Rafah, protested over the disappearance of a student. The girl was found in the afternoon, left by unknown persons beside al-Reisa hospital. After she was found residents opened the international road again. Citizens gathered in front of the headquarters of North Sinai governorate, in al-Arish, and stopped cars from driving in both lanes. They burned car wheels and arranged large rocks and sacks of sand in the middle of the path to stop the traffic, demanding the return of security and safety. The residents called through the microphones of the mosques asking the students to stay inside in fear of their lives, and threatened to stay away from work until the disappeared students are returned.