ISIS Striking Crusaders
"All Crusaders: safety for you will be only wishes, especially if you are fighting us all together. Therefore we will fight you all together."
The sea you have hidden Sheikh Osama bin Laden's body in, we swear to Allah we will mix it with your blood."
Terrorist spokesman, released beheading video
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Events in Libya and a militant insurgency in the Sinai may force
President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi to ramp up his plan of action.
(Reuters/AP)
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"And let those near and far know that the Egyptians have a shield that protects and preserves the security of the country, and a sword that eradicates terrorism."
Egyptian military statement
"There are losses among individuals, ammunition and the (Islamic State) communication centres." Libyan air force commander Saqer al-Joroushi
"[There are] boat people who go for immigration purposes and try to cross the Mediterranean. In the next few weeks if we do not act together, there will be boats full of terrorists also."
Nasser Kamel, Egyptian Ambassador to the UK
"Although some may assume that Egypt is now on the sidelines, in reality Egypt is part of the anti-ISIS coalition and will remain so for the foreseeable future."
"Cairo will hit hard against extremists, both at home and elsewhere, since it understands that the confrontation is existential between those that wish to impose the [ISIS] 'Caliphate' – and its extremist views – and those that support the nation-state system that aims to introduce gradual reforms."
Dr. Joseph A. Kechichian, scholar, historian, political scientist, United States
The Sinai Peninsula has proven in recent years to be Egypt's Achilles heel. The deadly mix of Bedouin Salafists, al-Qaeda, Islamic Jihad, Hamas and the Muslim Brotherhood have made for systemic, continuous violence expressed in deadly attacks against Egyptian police and military posts leading to the deaths of Egyptian security personnel. Also present is a group operating out of the Sinai that changed its name along with its affiliation, pledging allegiance to ISIS and calling themselves the Sinai Province, from Ansar Bayt al-Maqdis.
A number of deadly attacks on security forces has been claimed by Sinai Province. And it is clear that Libya's ISIS affiliate has made contact with Sinai Province. Much of the increasing violence being experienced in the Sinai Peninsula has intensified hugely with the removal of Mohammad Morsi of the Muslim Brotherhood. "ISIS wants to drag Cairo into the Libyan maelstrom while attacking from the Sinai. So expect more ISIS violence in Egypt" warned British security analyst Richard Galustian, familiar with Libya from his years spent there.
The video that featured the mass beheading of Coptic Christian hostages released by Islamic State-aligned Libyan terrorists has shocked Egyptians. "These cowardly actions will not undermine our determination. Egypt and the whole world are in a fierce battle with extremist groups carrying extremist ideology and sharing the same goals", stated President Abdel Fattah el-Sissi in his address to the nation, stressing his determination to continue battling terrorism. The seven-day mourning period in Egypt will not deter the commission of ongoing air strikes against ISIS positions in Libya.
The Coptic Church, reeling in dismay at the news that 21 of its faithful were butchered by Libya's ISIS brigades called on its followers to have "confidence that their group nation won't rest without retribution for the evil criminals". Whatever hostility Egyptian Muslims feel about Egyptian Christians is temporarily erased by the thought that Egyptians have been viciously slaughtered; for the time being at least, they are all Egyptians first.
The video was the proud production of the Tripoli Province of the Islamic State group, a slickly produced video portraying a Mediterranean beach scene with Islamic State terrorists leading Egyptian Coptic Christians toward the scene of their decapitation, in Libya. The men, who were captured months ago and kept in undisclosed confinement, were forced to lie face down, and the beheadings commenced. The speaker in the video pointed north toward Italy and declared "We will conquer Rome, by Allah's permission."
Kayla Branson of Risk Advisory Group noted that terrorists such as Ansar al-Sharia have accused Egypt of military intervention against them since the spring and summer of 2014. "They have also threatened retaliation in response to this alleged military support." Libya Dawn's Tripoli-based parliament has "strongly condemned" the Egyptian airstrike in Libya against the town where the ISIS group is installed as an "assault on sovereignty".
"[According to] current indications, the struggle of ISIS Libya appears very locally focused on the conflict inside Libya against the interim House of Representative government and affiliated militias, rather than seeking to mount attacks inside Egypt. It is not even clear if they even have the capabilities to do so at this time. [Sinai Province at the present time] poses the more serious threat of terrorism inside Egypt", noted Ms. Branson.
Egyptian authorities noted that the pre-dawn strike hit militant camps, training sites and weapons storage areas where factional fighting has resulted in anarchy, creating a haven for jihadi Islamists. The 21 decapitations has led President al-Sisi to open reaction, and his battle against Islamist militancy has clearly been expanded. He has made an effort to convince the U.S.-led coalition flying airstrikes in Iraq and Syria to extend their flights over Libya to achieve the same purpose; the defeat of Islamic State.
All of the kidnapped Copts were workers seized from the coastal town of Sirte, eastern Libya, now under control of Islamist groups. The video was the first such that arose from an Islamic State group outside its Caliphate territory in Syria and Iraq; a sign that should trouble the West, let alone the greater Middle East, that the Islamic State is gaining ground in the support it musters from like-minded Islamists.
In Egypt, the poverty-stricken Copts living in Al-Our, seek employment regularly in Libya where they can be paid far more than they could receive working in Egypt, if they can find work in Egypt. Local men say they are desperate for work and Libya is their only hope of a job. Many say they still have relatives working there, and that villagers will continue to go there in search of work. The desperation of poverty claiming precedence over concerns for security.
Labels: Christians, Conflict, Egypt, Islamic State, Islamism, Libya, Terrorists
posted by Pieface @ Tuesday, February 17, 2015
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