Operation Eagle

Operation Eagle (Arabic: حملة نسر‎) is an ongoing Egyptian military campaign launched in August 2011 in the Sinai Peninsula. Its objectives are to confront Islamist insurgents and criminal gangs threatening Egypt's national security and to restore law and order.

Contents

Background

Israel returned the Sinai Peninsula, which it captured in the 1967 Six-Day War, to Egypt in 1982 as part of the 1979 Egypt–Israel Peace Treaty. Among the treaty's other provisions was an agreement that the peninsula would be left effectively demilitarized.[1][2]

The security situation in the Sinai began deteriorating early in 2011, as a fallout of the 2011 Egyptian revolution.[3] Since February of that year, the Egypt–Israel pipeline in El-Arish was attacked five times by saboteurs.[4][5] On 30 July, militants staged an attack on an Egyptian police station in El-Arish, killing six.[6] On 2 August, a group claiming to be the Sinai wing of Al-Qaeda declared its intention to create an Islamic caliphate in the Sinai.[7]

Operation

On 14–15 August 2011, having obtained prior approval from Israel's government, Egypt deployed 2,500 troops and 250 armored personnel carriers in key locations in the Sinai.[8][9][10] The move marked the first time Egypt has deployed military forces on such a scale since its treaty with Israel in 1979.[11] The objectives of the operation are to confront Islamist insurgents and criminal gangs threatening Egypt's national security and to restore law and order.[12]

External images
"A convoy of Egyptian armoured vehicles head along a road on the Sinai Peninsula near the Gaza border on August 13, 2011"—CNN[13]

On 15 August, Egyptian security forces swept through a house known to be used by five leading Islamist figures. One of the five was killed; the remaining four were taken into custody.[14]

On 16 August, a group of gunmen believed to be affiliated with jihadist movements attacked an Egyptian army checkpoint. Egypt's forces suffered no casualties in the assault.[14]

On 17 August, two Bedouins were killed in southern Sinai. Their families blamed Egyptian police for their deaths, but the police said it was not involved in the incident.[15][16]

On 26 August, Israeli Defense Minister Ehud Barak said that Israel will agree for Egypt to employ thousands of troops in the Sinai, even though the Camp David Accords treaty strictly forbids it.[17]

See also

References

  1. ^ Gonn, Adam (24 August 2011). "Egypt aims to boost Sinai security with Israeli consent after attacks". Xinhua (Jerusalem). http://news.xinhuanet.com/english2010/world/2011-08/24/c_131069719.htm. Retrieved 26 August 2011. "According to the agreement, Israel in 1982 evacuated all its military bases and settlements from Sinai, which it had captured in the 1967 war, and returned it to Egypt in exchange for the area becoming a demilitarized zone with only a limited number of Egyptian troops deployed." 
  2. ^ Katz, Yaakov (14 August 2011). "Egypt launches massive operation to control Sinai". Jerusalem Post. http://www.jpost.com/Defense/Article.aspx?id=233772. Retrieved 26 August 2011. 
  3. ^ Attalah, Lina (21 August 2011). "Sinai contested: Outlaws, Islamists, Israel and army". Almasry Alyoum (Arish). http://www.almasryalyoum.com/en/node/488224. Retrieved 22 August 2011. "The question of militant Islamist groups operating in the peninsula has been simmering for months, since security there collapsed in the wake of the uprising that brought down former President Hosni Mubarak." 
  4. ^ Tobias Buck; Heba Saleh (18 August 2011). "Seventeen killed in Israel attacks". Financial Times (Jerusalem; Cairo). http://www.ft.com/intl/cms/s/0/9ea41cf0-c986-11e0-9eb8-00144feabdc0.html#axzz1VWDOVv6G. Retrieved 20 August 2011. "In the past six months, suspected Islamist militants in the Sinai have blown up a pipeline carrying natural gas to Israel five times." 
  5. ^ "Egypt's Dilemma After Israel Attacks". Business Insider. Stratfor. 19 August 2011. http://www.businessinsider.com/egypts-hamas-dilemma-after-attacks-in-israel-2011-8. Retrieved 20 August 2011. 
  6. ^ Awad, Marwa (16 August 2011). "Egypt army operation nets militants in Sinai-sources". Reuters Africa (Cairo). http://af.reuters.com/article/egyptNews/idAFL5E7JG1SE20110816. Retrieved 19 August 2011. 
  7. ^ Hassan, Amro (17 August 2011). "Nearly 20 alleged gas pipeline saboteurs arrested". Los Angeles Times (Cairo). http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/babylonbeyond/2011/08/egypt-gas-pipeline.html. Retrieved 19 August 2011. "Concerns over the security situation in Sinai intensified on Aug. 2 when a group referring to itself as Al Qaeda's wing in Sinai called for the creation of an Islamic caliphate in the peninsula." 
  8. ^ ElBoluk, Salah (14 August 2011). "Army tanks in N. Sinai for first time since Israeli peace treaty". Almasry Alyoum. http://www.almasryalyoum.com/en/node/486279. Retrieved 24 August 2011. "An official source said that Israeli authorities agreed to the entry of Egyptian armed forces to Rafah for a specific period in order to restore security in the border area." 
  9. ^ Cook, Steven A. (17 August 2011). "The Eagle Has Landed In...Sinai?". Council on Foreign Relations. http://blogs.cfr.org/cook/2011/08/17/the-eagle-has-landed%E2%80%A6in-sinai/. Retrieved 19 August 2011. 
  10. ^ Katz, Yaakov (14 August 2011). "Egypt launches massive operation to control Sinai". Jerusalem Post. http://www.jpost.com/Defense/Article.aspx?id=233772. Retrieved 19 August 2011. 
  11. ^ "Hamas moves to arrest Army of Islam leader Mumtaz Daghmash". Almasry Alyoum. 18 August 2011. http://www.almasryalyoum.com/en/node/487607. Retrieved 24 August 2011. "The initiative, named Operation Eagle, saw Egyptian army tanks and troops deployed to the streets of Sinai towns for the first time since the 1970s." 
  12. ^ Khaled, Osama (11 August 2011). "Special forces deployed to Sinai to restore security". Almasry Alyoum. http://www.almasryalyoum.com/en/node/485461. Retrieved 19 August 2011. "The troops are expected to start by cracking down on all organized crime in Arish, and will then head to Rafah and Sheikh Zuwaid, where they expect to face fierce resistance due to the large numbers of armed criminals and insurgents." 
  13. ^ Fahmy, Mohamed Fadel (16 August 2011). "Egypt cracks down on terror cells in Sinai; bin Laden's doctor spotted". CNN (Cairo). http://edition.cnn.com/2011/WORLD/africa/08/16/egypt.sinai/. Retrieved 22 August 2011. 
  14. ^ a b Halawi, Jailan (18 August 2011). "Clamp-down in Sinai". Al-Ahram Weekly (Cairo). http://weekly.ahram.org.eg/2011/1061/eg4.htm. Retrieved 19 August 2011. 
  15. ^ "Tension mounts in Egypt's Sinai as two locals killed". TIME. 17 August 2011. http://www.timeslive.co.za/africa/2011/08/17/tension-mounts-in-egypt-s-sinai-as-two-locals-killed. Retrieved 19 August 2011. "Angry Bedouins blocked a main road in the Egyptian city of South Sinai and fired shots in the air Wednesday, in protest at the killing of two local men by unknown gunmen." 
  16. ^ "Egypt kills 2 Beduin at Sinai military checkpoint". Jerusalem Post. 17 August 2011. http://www.jpost.com/Headlines/Article.aspx?id=234117. Retrieved 19 August 2011. 
  17. ^ Barak agrees to Egypt deploying troops, vehicles in Sinai

External links