Egypt’s Sinai campaign, a fight on behalf of the region

I wish the Arab media would highlight the importance of what Egypt has been doing in Sinai on behalf of all Arab and Gulf countries.

The Egyptian army is conducting the biggest operation to flush out terrorists on various fronts. Before talking about the operation, we must beware that terror plans against Egypt are part of the new Middle East project which targeted us all and which aims to obliterate current Arab states and replace them with statelets of warring militias; as was witnessed in Iraq, Syria, Yemen, Libya and Lebanon. There have been attempts to do the same in Bahrain, Tunisia, Jordan and Saudi Arabia but they’ve only managed to cause unrest and failed in overthrowing the state.

War on many fronts

Egypt has been facing meticulously planned and sustained attacks on its eastern front in Sinai, and on the western front along the Libyan border and even inside the country, where terrorist attacks continue to target security personnel.

Egypt’s importance lies in the fact that if it collapses, this will mean the collapse of the largest Arab army. The northern front will thus no longer be secured. Sinai would then be wrested out of Egyptian control and would fall to ISIS’ hands, which would then pose a direct threat to all of us in the Arab south. The current Egyptian army is not only fighting a war against terrorism or to protect Egypt but also to stop the implementation of the new Middle East project. This is a war that would save Arab countries from a major danger and it’s is being fought by Egypt on our behalf.

Terrorism has consolidated its grip on Sinai. During the course of the last operation they found underground clinics, radio stations, tunnels and large arsenals even for heavy weapons. Sinai has long borders, some of which are shared with Israel. Meanwhile, the Muslim Brotherhood has waged a war against the state from inside Egypt, Gaza and other strongholds which receive unlimited Qatari funds. It was thus difficult to put an end to smuggling operations. In fact, Egypt is being attacked from all sides.

A large number of victims have fallen in Sinai. The last attack claimed 300 lives that included children, who had come to perform Friday prayers at al-Rawda mosque. After this incident Abdel Fattah El Sisi gave the defense minister a three-month deadline to wipe out terrorism from Sinai.

Biggest campaign since 1973 War

The first week of February, witnessed the biggest war waged by the Egyptian army since the 1973 War. All military services, the air force, the navy, the border security forces and police, are securing the territories which the army is combing. Meanwhile, the army is keeping the western front with Libya secure to prevent terrorists from taking advantage of its preoccupation in the east.

The war is being waged at a time when Turkey is conducting psy-ops against Egypt to prevent it from benefiting from the gas deal it has signed with Cyprus and from the gas platforms in the Mediterranean Sea. Every now and again, Turkey makes threats to confuse Egypt at this crucial time when it is facing severe economic challenges.

Speaking of economic challenges, Prince Mohammed bin Salman extolled the economic achievements of Egypt during his visit to that country, which deserves our respect.

This article was first published in Arabic.

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Sawsan Al Shaer is a Bahraini writer and journalist. She tweets under the handle @sawsanalshaer