Illustrative image.
On November 16, ISIS cells ambushed a patrol of pro-government tribal forces in the northern part of Egypt’s Sinai Peninsula.
The terrorists targeted the patrol with an improvised explosive device (IED) while it was passing near the village of al-Maltah to the west of Rafah city.
ISIS’ official news agency, Amaq, reported that a tribal fighter was killed in the ambush. This was later confirmed by the Sinai Tribes Union, whose official Facebook page identified the casualty as “Bahaa Fayez Abourjila” from the prominent Armilat tribe.
ISIS cells have been waging an insurgency against Egyptian government forces and pro-government tribesmen in Sinai for around eight years now.
In the last few months, the terrorists stepped up their attacks mainly relying on IEDs as a low-cost, low-risk tactic to inflict some serious losses on their enemies.
Egyptian government forces and pro-government tribesmen continue to conduct counter-terrorism operations in Sinai on a regular basis. Despite of these efforts, the terrorist group’s cells in Sinai are still fairly active. On November 6, the terrorists killed a high-ranking Egyptian officer and three tribal fighters during an attack in the area of al-Jalbanah in northwestern part of the peninsula.