Special to WorldTribune.com

CAIRO — In the first such attack in 2012, Bedouin gunmen have killed
Egyptian police officers in the Sinai Peninsula.

Security sources said at least two police officers were killed and three
others injured in a Bedouin assault of a police checkpoint near the northern
provincial capital of El Arish. They said the Bedouin attackers employed
automatic weapons and drove off.

“They used heavy machine guns mounted on pickup trucks,” a security source said.

This marked the first lethal attack by Bedouin insurgents on Egyptian security forces in 2012. In February 2011, Bedouin gunmen attacked a police station in El Arish in which 14 people were killed.

The sources said the Bedouin gunmen were believed to be aligned with Al Qaida-inspired squads. They said the gunmen were apparently trying to smuggle weapons amid expanded Egyptian security deployment in northeastern Sinai.

South Sinai Gov. Gen. Khaled Fouda has ruled out any campaign to disarm the Bedouins. In a a briefing on April 14, Fouda said any attempt to seize
weapons from the Bedouins could result in a “bloodbath.” “This is impossible,” Fouda said.

The Bedouins were believed to be receiving funds and other assistance
from Palestinian insurgents based in the Gaza Strip. On April 13, three
Palestinians identified as members of the Hamas-aligned Popular Resistance
Committees were arrested in Sinai on their way to purchase weapons smuggled
from Libya. Another Palestinian, who also holds U.S. citizenship, was
arrested in Ismailia and accused of espionage along the Suez Canal.

“Egypt should continue to tighten its relationship with Hamas, but not
at the expense of the country’s national interests, regional security and
peace that will all enable Egypt to further develop internally,” former
Egyptian intelligence chief Omar Suleiman, whose candidacy for president was
rejected, said.

  Al Qaida, Egypt rules out gun control in the Sinai after Bedouins kill police in attack, El Arish, Gaza Strip, Gen. Khaled Fouda, machine guns mounted on pickup trucks, Popular Resistance Committees