Special to WorldTribune.com

CAIRO — The ouster of President Mohammed Morsi has sparked a
revolt in Egypt’s turbulent Sinai Peninsula.

Officials said Islamic insurgents believed linked to the ousted Muslim
Brotherhood launched an offensive against the Egyptian Army and security
forces in Sinai. In one attack on July 5, a soldier was killed in a strike
that included rockets and machine guns toward a police station.

“We believe that the terrorists in Sinai have been given a green light to attack,” an official said.

One attack took place on an Egyptian Army checkpoint in the northern Sinai village of Gora on July 5. At least two other soldiers were said to have been injured as the Army declared a state of emergency in South Sinai
and Suez.

Officials said Islamic fighters attacked military intelligence headquarters in the divided city of Rafah along the border with the Hamas-ruled Gaza Strip. In what was regarded as an escalation in the insurgency in Sinai, the military complex was struck by rocket-propelled grenades believed smuggled from the strip. The Army responded by sending a U.S.-origin AH-64 Apache attack helicopter to repel the attackers.

The international airport at El Arish has also been a target for the
insurgents. Officials said several gunmen opened fire on the northern Sinai
airport as well as toward the main base of the U.S.-led Multinational Force
and Observers.

The attacks, which included mortar and RPGs, continued in Sinai on June
6, mostly around El Arish and Rafah. In one strike, gunmen opened fire on
three checkpoints of the Central Security Forces, which returned fire. A
Coptic priest was said to have been shot dead.

So far, no group has claimed responsibility for the attacks, which also
included those on other Army and police checkpoints around northern Sinai.
Officials said some of the Bedouin militias in Sinai had been linked to the
Brotherhood.

Officials said the insurgency in Sinai was fueled by arms and fighters
from the Gaza Strip. They said the army ordered the indefinite closure of
the Rafah Border Terminal with the Gaza Strip.

  Bedouin militias, Gora, Mohammed Morsi, Rafah, Revenge: Muslim Brotherhood said to give ‘green light’ to terrorists in Sinai, Suez