Special to WorldTribune.com

CAIRO — The Egyptian military has launched one of the largest air
and ground strikes on suspected insurgency strongholds in the Sinai
Peninsula.

Security sources said the military coordinated a major air and ground
operation in northern Sinai. They said the operation included such
U.S.-origin assets as the AH-64 Apache attack helicopter and the M1A1 Abrams
main battle tank.

“The operation is based on intelligence information that identified the terrorists and their hiding places,” a source said. “The aim is clear entire towns of their presence.”

The operation began on Sept. 7 near the Egyptian border with the Hamas-ruled Gaza Strip and included at least a dozen communities. The sources said Apache helicopters fired missiles into the divided city of
Rafah as well as the nearby town of Sheik Zweid, both deemed major insurgency strongholds and believed to include Gazans.

In all, 2,500 soldiers were reported to be participating in the campaign. On late Sept. 7, an Egyptian soldier was reported to have been killed when his patrol was bombed outside El Arish.

Egypt’s official Middle East News Agency confirmed the operation. MENA
said six helicopters were used to target insurgency strongholds in seven
villages, including weapons arsenals and vehicles.

“This is a campaign to eradicate terrorist hideouts,” MENA said.

At the same time, Abrams MBTs were said to have surrounded some of the
communities to prevent insurgents from fleeing. The sources said the
Egyptian Army deployed electronic warfare systems to jam cellular
communications.

On Sept. 7, the military reported the death of at least nine suspected
insurgents in northern Sinai. Military spokesman Col. Ahmed Ali said a huge
amount of weapons and ammunition has been seized.

“The operation is part of a larger crackdown campaign against militant
groups active in Egypt’s most volatile area,” Ali said.

Opposition sources in Sinai, however, said the military was blasting
homes in several villages. A Sinai journalist, Ahmed Abu Dra, was arrested
on Sept. 4 after he posted reports on Facebook of extensive collateral
damage from previous military strikes.

The Egyptian military was said to have been under strain from operation
in both Sinai as well as on the African mainland. Army troops have been
responding to bomb threats near the Suez Canal, the leading passage for the
U.S. Navy to sustain the war in Afghanistan. Bomb threats have also been
reported on flights to and from Cairo International Airport.

  AH-64 Apache, attack helicopters on Sinai insurgents, Col. Ahmed Ali, Egypt unleashes U.S. tanks, El Arish, M1A1 Abrams, Rafah