CAIRO [MENL] — Egypt has been searching for Al Qaida squads in the Sinai Peninsula.

Egyptian security sources said large parts of the army and air force have been deployed in Operation Eagle, the counter-insurgency mission to find and destroy Al Qaida and other hostile groups in Sinai. They said units such as the Second Army, Second Infantry Division and special operations forces were raiding suspected Al Qaida strongholds in eastern and central Sinai.

“This is an operation that could take some time,” a source said.

On Aug. 9, the Egyptian Army reported the killing of 40 suspected insurgents in Sinai. The army said units were operating throughout northern and central Sinai.

“In the course of the armed clashes in northern Sinai, 40 militants were killed, several dozen wounded and over 30 members of extremist groups were captured,” an army spokesman said.

The sources said Egypt’s intelligence community has identified a range of suspected Al Qaida militias. They said the names of some of the groups were interchangeable and operatives were believed to work for several of the networks.

The biggest of the Al Qaida networks was identified as Tawhid W’al Jihad, a group that first appeared in 2004 and claimed responsibility for numerous bombings in Sinai. Tawhid, believed linked to the Army of Islam in the neighboring Gaza Strip, has called for the the establishment of an
Islamic state in Sinai. The sources said 25 suspected Tawhid operatives have been on trial on security offenses, including attacks on the Egyptian Army and police.

Army of Islam was also said to have established a presence in Sinai, with an estimated 400,000 Bedouins. The sources said the group, established by a former Hamas officer, was suspected of planning attacks on the Egyptian mainland, including the bombing of a church in Alexandria in 2010.

Other groups being sought by security authorities included the Mujahadeen Shura Council, which launched operations in July 2011. Mujahadeen has claimed responsibility for attacks on Israeli soldiers and civilians from Sinai in 2012.

On Aug. 1, a suspected Al Qaida-aligned squad called Jund Al Shariah pledged to fight the Cairo regime. Jund said its goal was to establish an
Islamic state.

Al Qaida militias were also believed responsible for many of the 15 bombings of the Arab Gas Pipeline. Claims of responsibility came from Ansar Beit Al Maqdis, which released a video that detailed one attack on the pipeline that supplied natural gas to Israel and Jordan.

The sources said Al Qaida-aligned militias have recruited thousands of Bedouins and Palestinians in Sinai. They said parts of northeastern Sinai,
particularly from the Gaza-Sinai border to the northern province of El Arish were under Al Qaida control.

The Bedouins, many of whom grew rich from arms, fuel and human trafficking, have hired Palestinian fighters from the Hamas-ruled Gaza Strip. The sources said the Palestinians have taught the new Al Qaida groups military tactics as well as the operation of mortars, missiles and rockets. At least one training camp was said to have been established in Sheik Zweid, about 10 kilometers from the Gaza border.

RELATED ARTICLESMORE FROM AUTHOR