Human Rights Watch accuses both Egyptian security forces and insurgents of committing “war crimes” in North Sinai, the scene of a bloody years-long insurgency and military crackdown.
“While Egyptian military and police forces were responsible for the majority of abuses documented in the report, extremist militants have also committed horrific crimes,” the New York-based group says in a 134-page report.
“Some of the abuses carried out by government forces and the militants, which this report documents, are war crimes, and their widespread and systematic nature could amount to crimes against humanity.”
Egypt has for years been fighting a hardened insurgency in North Sinai, which escalated following the 2013 military ouster of Islamist president Mohamed Morsi.
Since then, militants have killed hundreds of police officers and soldiers.
Military spokesman Colonel Tamer al-Rifai rejects the HRW report as “untruthful.”
“It is based on unverified sources. Some politicized organisations are intent on tarnishing Egypt’s image and its armed forces with baseless claims,” he tells AFP.
In February 2018, the army launched an operation against the militants, focusing mainly on North Sinai province.
According to a tally of death tolls given by the armed forces, around 650 militants and about 45 soldiers have since been killed.
HRW estimated at least 3,076 alleged militants and 1,226 security forces were killed in fighting between 2014 and 2018.
The watchdog compiled the report over two years, interviewing more than 50 residents of the Sinai Peninsula, where independent media coverage is effectively banned and a state of emergency has been in force since 2013.
— AFP
