Special to WorldTribune.com

CAIRO — While Egypt’s military has ended operations in the mountains of
Sinai Peninsula, security sources said insurgents were scattered throughout the
peninsula.

“There are other areas where we believe the terrorists are located,” a
source said.

The sources said the military also reduced ground operations in Sinai in an effort to bolster force protection. Instead, Defense Minister Abdul Fatah Sisi ordered reconnaissance air operations to identify suspected insurgency strongholds in the peninsula.

So far, fixed- and rotary-wing operations identified 15 insurgency
strongholds in central and eastern Sinai. The sources said Palestinian
insurgents, some of them identified as members of the Gaza-based Army of Islam, have been hiding in the largest communities of eastern Sinai, particularly El Arish, Rafah, Sheik Zuweid.

The sources said the military has determined that the insurgency network in Sinai included North Africans and Pakistanis. They said these operatives were believed to have gained their experience in the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq.

At least four of the fighters alleged to have attacked Egyptian Army
positions in which 16 soldiers were killed on Aug. 5 were identified. The
sources said the four had been pardoned by Egyptian President Mohammed Morsi
a week before the strike.

The military and police were also said to be working along the Sinai
border with the Gaza Strip. The sources said tunnels that linked Sinai and
Gaza were being sealed or destroyed by bulldozers and heavy machinery.

In one operation, Egyptian forces captured four fighters on motorcycles
near Rafah. The sources said the suspected fighters were trying to reach the
tunnels to Gaza.

  Abdul Fatah Sisi, Afghanistan, Army of Islam, El Arish, Gaza Strip, insurgents include North Africans and Pakistanis, Mohammed Morsi, Rafah, Sheik Zuweid, Sinai insurgents holed up in 15 strongholds; veterans of wars in Iraq