Special to WorldTribune.com

CAIRO — Egypt has failed to find the mountain bases of Al
Qaida-aligned militias in the Sinai Peninsula.

Egyptian security sources said Defense Minister Abdul Fatah Sisi called
off plans for a massive search for Islamic insurgents in the Halal mountains
in Sinai.

The sources said Sisi, supported by his new military chief of staff,
concluded that authorities would instead seek intelligence on the
insurgency presence.

“The number of troops necessary is far greater than the military is
prepared to deploy at this point,” a source said.

Halal is said to serve as a haven for the new Salafist militias in
Sinai. The sources said Halal, an east-west mountain range that spans some 200 kilometers, contains thousands of caves that could not be spotted from the air.

“Combat vehicles can not reach these lairs,” the source said. “It
would require thousands of troops, operating in an extremely hostile
environment.”

The sources said the Army and police spent about a day around Halal near El Arish on Aug. 17 in search of insurgents. They said the troops found no major hideouts in search for at least 120 fugitives.

Halal has been controlled by several powerful Bedouin tribes, including
Nakhawla, Tarabin and Tayaha. The sources said many of the estimated 1,200
Islamic fighters in Sinai were believed hiding in the caves, which reach a
height of 150 meters above
flat ground.

The last Egyptian counter-insurgency campaign in Halal was ordered by
then-Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak in 2005. An estimated 5,000 Bedouins
were captured in a three-month-long operation that included 1,000 special
forces under the authority of the Interior Ministry.

“There were heavy losses in that operation, and since then security
forces have been cautious about operating in Halal,” another source said.

  Abdul Fatah Sisi, Al Qaida-aligned militias, Bedouin tribes, Egypt ends hunt for Islamic insurgents hiding in Sinai’s Halal mountains, Halal area near El Arish, Salafists