Sinai terrorists vow to avenge allies killed in crackdown

Hundreds of Sinai-based militants pledged during a secret nocturnal meeting Sunday to avenge the killing of their associates by striking against the Egyptian military, a source close to those at the meeting told Arabic newspaper A-Sharq Al-Awsat on Monday.

On Tuesday and early Wednesday last week Egyptian army helicopters fired missiles on suspected Islamic terrorists in Sinai, killing at least 20 people, after terror cells mounted an attack on security checkpoints and two days after terrorists killed 16 Egyptian troops in a major assault at the Gaza-Egypt-Israel border.

Several terror suspects have been arrested as Cairo has cracked down on lawlessness in the peninsula.

According to the source, the militants agreed that their response to the Sinai operation would be “commensurate.”

Meanwhile, a Egyptian army commander said the operation against the militants, in its sixth day, is to continue until the complete elimination of terrorism in Sinai.

“We will continue the operation until the eradication of all terrorists in Sinai,” General Ahmad Mahmud Wasfi told the Egypt Independent. He added the Egyptians are moving more troops and armored vehicles to the peninsula to avenge the “Sinai treachery.”

There have been a number of shooting attacks on Egyptian forces and peacekeepers in the Sinai since the attack in Rafah last Sunday.