Egypt Conducts Airstrikes in Sinai After Mosque Attack

Junta Promises Brutal Response to Major Terrorist Attack

Egyptian warplanes were reported overhead in the northern Sinai Peninsula on Friday evening, after the major terrorist attack earlier in the day killed 235 people. Airstrikes were claimed in the surrounding area, but details on casualties are unclear.

Junta leader Abdel-Fattah ElSisi has promised to “respond with brutal force” to the attack, saying the military would avenge the deaths. Army officials claim that strikes were carried out against “terrorist locations” nearby.

Such claims must always be taken with a grain of salt, however, as Egypt tends to respond to Sinai attacks with quick and large airstrikes, but it’s never exactly clear how they determined who they’re attacking was involved.

If Egypt has such a plethora of known “terrorist sites” all over Sinai, for instance, it’s unclear why they’re only attacked in retaliation for specific terror acts. Moreover, if such huge numbers of terrorists are really being hit all the time in such retaliatory strikes, it’s hard to believe the Sinai ISIS group would still be such a powerful force as they clearly are today.

Author: Jason Ditz

Jason Ditz is Senior Editor for Antiwar.com. He has 20 years of experience in foreign policy research and his work has appeared in The American Conservative, Responsible Statecraft, Forbes, Toronto Star, Minneapolis Star-Tribune, Providence Journal, Washington Times, and the Detroit Free Press.