Abstract

Chapter Three Middle East Egypt (Sinai) Violence in North Sinai showed no Key statistics 2016 2017 signs of abating in 2017, despite Type: Internal Internal heavy military deployment and Fatalities: 1,750 1,500 continuous operations. On 24 New IDPs: – 3,800 b b November, 311 people were killed in New refugees: – – an attack on a Sufi-affiliated mosque in the region. No group claimed responsibility for the attack, but many suspected the involvement of Wilayat Sinai (Sinai Province), the Sinai affiliate of the Islamic State, also known as ISIS or ISIL, which is infamous for sectarian attacks against Sufis and Christians. Although Wilayat Sinai dominated jihadi activity, there was a resurgence among other groups. One example was Jund al-Islam, a group linked to al-Qaeda that condemned the attack and announced its intention to repel ‘the Kharijites of al-Baghdadi’ (referring to operatives from ISIS) from Sinai. Another group affiliated to al-Qaeda, Ansar al- Islam, claimed an attack in the Western Desert, which emerged as a new front for attacks against the security forces. In addition, Egypt faced smaller-scale attacks in and around Cairo by groups such as Hassm. The various forms of violence were politically expedient for the Egyptian government,