The Islamic State (IS) jihadist group claimed responsibility on Sunday, via its propaganda organ Amaq, for the attack which had left eleven dead in the ranks of the Egyptian army in the Sinai the day before.
This toll is one of the highest recorded by Egyptian forces for years on their soil.
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The attack on a military hydraulic pumping station in the desert peninsula, where radical cells are rife, some of which have pledged allegiance to IS, has sparked a wave of condemnations abroad.
The African Union, Paris, Washington or Khartoum have all denounced a "
terrorist
" act which, promised Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sissi, will "
not overcome the determination of the country and its army to cut evil of terrorism at the root
”.
The army and the police launched in February 2018 a vast “ anti-
terrorist
” operation in the Sinai but also in the western desert, between the Nile valley and the border with Libya.
In the Sinai, the attacks are particularly concentrated on one point: the oil and gas pipelines that supply Israel and Jordan.
Regularly, the army announces that it has killed jihadists in this area.
In all, more than a thousand jihadists and dozens of members of the security forces have been killed, according to official figures – but no independent report is available and North Sinai is closed to journalists.
The last major bombing in Cairo dates back to May 2020, when an attack targeted the Giza pyramids in the southwest of the capital, injuring 17 a month before Egypt hosted the African Cup of Nations. Football nations.
