examples/non_update_2.txt

The Sinai insurgency is an ongoing insurgency in the Sinai Peninsula, Egypt, that was commenced by Islamist militants against Egyptian security forces, which have also included attacks on civilians. The insurgency began during the Egyptian Crisis, during which the longtime Egyptian president Hosni Mubarak was overthrown in the Egyptian revolution of 2011. <Summary>\\c\\cThe Sinai insurgency initially consisted of militants, largely composed of local Bedouin tribesmen, who exploited the chaotic situation in Egypt and weakened central authority to launch a series of attacks on government forces in Sinai. In 2014, elements of the Ansar Bait al-Maqdis group pledged allegiance to the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL or ISIS) and proclaimed themselves Sinai Province, and a part of ISIL. Security officials say militants based in Libya have established ties with the Sinai Province group and have blamed the porous border and ongoing civil war for the increase in sophisticated weapons available to the Islamist groups. <Summary>\\c\\cEgyptian authorities have attempted to restore their presence in the Sinai through both political and military measures. Egypt launched two military operations, known as Operation Eagle in mid-2011 and then Operation Sinai in mid-2012. In May 2013, following an abduction of Egyptian officers, violence in the Sinai surged once again. Following the 2013 Egyptian coup d\'état, which resulted in the ousting of Egyptian president Mohamed Morsi, "unprecedented clashes" have occurred. <Summary>\\c\\cThe fallout suffered by the locals as a result of the insurgency in Sinai ranges from militant operations and the state of insecurity to extensive military operations and the demolishing of hundreds of homes and evacuating thousands of residents as Egyptian troops pressed on to build a buffer zone meant to halt the smuggling of weapons and militants from and to the Gaza strip. A report, compiled by a delegation from the state-funded National Council for Human Rights (NCHR), stated that most of the displaced families share the same grievances of palpable government negligence, unavailability of nearby schools for their sons and the lack of health services. Since the start of the conflict, dozens of civilians were killed either in military operations or kidnapped and then beheaded by militants. In November 2017, more than 300 Sufist worshippers were killed and over 100 injured in a terrorist attack on a mosque west of the city of Al-Arish. <Summary>\\c\\cSufism was previously dominant in the region before militant jihadi ideas began to take hold. The Sinai Peninsula has long been known for its lawlessness, having historically served as a smuggling route for weapons and supplies. Security provisions in the Egypt–Israel peace treaty of 1979 have mandated a diminished security presence in the area, enabling militants to operate with a freer hand. Moreover, the limited government-directed investment and development in Sinai has discriminated against the local Bedouin population, a population that values tribal allegiance over all else. The combination of Sinai's harsh terrain and lack of resources have kept the area poor and hence ripe for militancy. <Background>\\c\\cFollowing the January 2011 uprising that toppled Hosni Mubarak's regime, the country became increasingly destabilized, creating a security vacuum in the Sinai Peninsula. Radical Islamic elements in Sinai exploited the opportunity, using the unique environment, in launching several waves of attacks upon Egyptian military and commercial facilities. <Background>\\c\\cAccording to The Economist, the conflict also involves local armed Bedouins "who have long-standing grievances against the central government in Cairo" and that "they are barred from joining the army or police; they find it hard to get jobs in tourism; and they complain that many of their lands have been taken from them". <Background>\\c\\cSince the 2011 uprising against the Mubarak regime in Egypt, there has been increasing instability in the Sinai Peninsula. In addition, the collapse of the Libyan regime increased the quantity and sophistication of weapons being smuggled into the area. The situation provided local Bedouin with an opportunity to assert their authority, leading to clashes with Egyptian security forces, but the cause of violence soon transitioned to salafi jihadism. Hard-line militant Muslims used Sinai as a launch-point for attacks against Israel and turned on the Egyptian state, focusing on Egypt's security establishment and the Sinai's Arab Gas Pipeline. <Timeline - 2011–2012>\\c\\cIn August 2011, Egypt launched Operation Eagle in an effort to restore law and order, driving Islamist insurgents and criminal gangs out of North Sinai's urban centers, and to attempt to sever the link between militant groups in the Sinai and Gaza by augmenting its control over the Gaza border crossing. <Timeline - Operation Eagle>\\c\\cThe operation had limited success, and a week into the operation, Salafi jihadists carried out the biggest cross-border attack on Israel in the post-Mubarak period. <Timeline - Operation Eagle>\\c\\cOn 5 August 2012, an attack on the Rafah barracks shook the Egyptian military and population. Only a month into his term, President Mohamed Morsi sacked the longstanding defence minister and promoted General al Sisi in his place. Operation Sinai was launched, aimed at eliminating armed Islamist groups, protecting the Suez Canal, and destroying the tunnel network connecting the Sinai with the Gaza Strip. During the operation, 32 militants and suspects were killed and 38 arrested, while 2 civilians were killed by early September 2012. <Timeline - Operation Sinai>\\c\\cSince the July 2013 coup against President Mohamed Morsi, a Muslim Brotherhood leader, Egyptian military and security services in particular were targeted by Sinai-based Islamist groups. In an increase in violence, security forces came under near daily attack throughout July to August 2013. <Timeline - 2013–2014>\\c\\cIn 2013, the new authorities adopted a more aggressive strategy, leading to mass arrests and harsh security measures. <Timeline - 2013–2014>\\c\\cOver the few months leading to 2014, the Egyptian army gained the upper hand in the battle against militias that had found safe haven in the peninsula. After isolating and largely clearing the populated northeastern Sinai, the army put many militant factions on the defensive, most notably Ansar Bait al-Maqdis. However, one thousand armed militiamen were still sheltering in the main stronghold in Jabal Halal, as well as Jabal Amer area. <Timeline - 2013–2014>\\c\\cIn November 2014, the situation in the Sinai was thrust into the spotlight with the deadliest attack on the security forces since 2011, and the group responsible Ansar Bayt al-Maqdis pledging allegiance to the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) forming the Sinai Province. <Timeline - May>\\c\\cIn the wake of the attack on the security forces, the government declared state of emergency, imposing a curfew and establish a buffer zone in the Sinai's border area with Gaza. <Timeline - May 2013 hostage crisis>\\c\\cIn May 2013, a number of Egyptian Army police officers were taken hostage by armed tribesmen in the Sinai Peninsula, with videos released on the internet with them begging for their lives. As a response, Egypt's government built up security forces in northern Sinai as part of an effort to secure the release of six policemen and a border guard kidnapped by suspected militants. On 20–21 May, Egyptian troops and police, backed by helicopter gunships, conducted a sweep through a number of villages in northern Sinai, along the border with Israel. The officials said the forces came under fire from gunmen in vehicles, triggering the clashes. The clashes left one gunman dead by 21 May. The hostages were released on 22 May after talks between the captors and Bedouins. One suspect in the kidnapping was arrested on 30 May 2013. <Timeline - July>\\c\\cAfter Morsi's ouster on 3 July by Sisi, there was an increase in violence by armed Bedouin and Islamists. Attacks on security forces took place almost daily — leading many to link the militants there to the Muslim Brotherhood, the Islamist group from which Morsi hails. <Timeline - July 2013 escalation following Morsi ousting>\\c\\cIn response, Egypt launched a major military operation in Sinai against the militants, bringing in two additional battalions. <Timeline - July 2013 escalation following Morsi ousting>\\c\\cIn the two weeks following 3 July, 39 terrorist attacks occurred in North Sinai. In the resulting clashes between armed groups and security forces, 52 gunmen and civilians and six security personnel died. On 15 July, a bus transporting workers to the army-operated Al-Arish Cement Company was attacked leaving five killed and 15 wounded, the highest civilian casualties. On 16 July, attacks resulted in some of the most intense army engagement, concentrated at Al-Masa\'id, Al-Joura, and the Central Security camp at Al-Ahrash. <Timeline - July 2013 escalation following Morsi ousting>\\c\\cSecurity operations have been largely confined to the 40-kilometre area between Al-Arish and Sheikh Zuweid, extending northward toward Rafah along the border with Israel and up to the Karen Abu Salem crossing. Fighting intensified between the gunmen and the joint army-police forces at night. The frequency of attacks varied from two to five in a single day. In addition, targets expanded from fixed security checkpoints to mobile patrols. In most operations, the gunmen used four-wheel drive vehicles and combinations of light and heavy weaponry. However, in three attacks RPG-7 launchers were used, most likely smuggled from Libya. These grenades are capable of penetrating armoured vehicles and are generally fired at the doors. <Timeline - July 2013 escalation following Morsi ousting>\\c\\cOn 27 July, an operation dubbed "Desert Storm" was launched by the Egyptian army in North Sinai Governorate to last for 48 hours. Two of Egypt's field armies, as well as the country's air force and navy reportedly took part in the large-scale operation. <Timeline - July 2013 escalation following Morsi ousting>\\c\\cA bomb was placed at a hotel frequented by security officials on 2 August 2013, though it caused no injuries. A security source told the Egyptian newspaper Al-Masry Al-Youm that a majority of "terrorists" had been arrested as of 3 August 2013. 2 mausoleums were bombed on 4 August 2013, though no injuries resulted. <Timeline - July 2013 escalation following Morsi ousting>\\c\\cTwenty-five Egyptian policemen died in an attack in the northern region of Sinai, on 18 August. After militants forced two mini-buses carrying off-duty policemen to stop, ordered the policemen out and forced them to lie on the ground before shooting them. The Egyptian military arrested eleven people, including five Hamas members, three local residents and three foreign nationals, for their alleged involvement in the killings. The person who committed the murders confessed on 1 September 2013. <Timeline - July 2013 escalation following Morsi ousting>\\c\\cMilitary spokesperson Ahmed Ali said that Egyptian security forces operations in Sinai, from 5 July to 23 August, resulted in 78 suspected militants killed, including 32 foreigners; 116 people injured; and 203 people arrested, including 48 foreigners, for their alleged involvement in attacks on security checkpoints in the peninsula. Additionally 343 tunnels on the border with Gaza at Rafah were destroyed. <Timeline - July 2013 escalation following Morsi ousting>\\c\\cOn 3 September, fifteen Islamist militants were killed in an attack by military helicopters. <Timeline - September>\\c\\cOn 7 September, the Egyptian army launched a new operation in the region involving tanks and at least six Apache helicopters. The army jammed communications to thwart militant coordination. The army combed through areas near the Gaza Strip, including locations used by militants suspected in the killing and abduction of Egyptian soldiers over the past year. In the three days of operations, after 7 September, one officer, two soldiers and 29 militants were killed, and 39 militants arrested. <Timeline - December>\\c\\cOn 11 September, a suicide bomber targeted Egyptian military intelligence headquarters in Rafah, bringing down the structure, at the same time a car bomb had rammed an army checkpoint. In the simultaneous attack at least nine soldiers were killed. <Timeline - January>\\c\\cOn 24 December, 16 were killed and over 134 injured in a huge bomb which hit the Daqahliya Security Directorate in Mansoura, in the worst attack on a government site since the ouster of Morsi in July. Ansar Bait al-Maqdis, a Sinai-based group, claimed responsibility for the attack. The group deemed Egyptian troops infidels because they answer to a "secular government", warning them to desert or face death. <Timeline - 2014 helicopter downing>\\c\\cOn 26 January, militants shot down an army Mi-17 helicopter in North Sinai, killing all five of its crew members. The weapon the insurgents used was an infrared-homing, surface-to-air missile from the Russian-made Igla family. This was the first time in Egyptian history that an armed nonstate actor dropped a state's military helicopter by a missile. Ansar Bait al-Maqdis claimed responsibility for this attack as well as series of escalating attacks on police and soldiers. Earlier that morning masked men in an SUV attacked a bus carrying soldiers in Sinai, killing at least three and injuring at least 11. <Timeline - February>\\c\\cOn 3 February, in what was described as the biggest operation in the Egyptian army's ongoing offensive against militants in the Sinai, 30 suspected militants were killed and another 15 injured in a series of airstrikes and another 16 were arrested. <Timeline - 2014 Taba bus bombing>\\c\\cOn 16 February 2014, a bomb exploded on or under a tour bus of a South Korean church group in the Egyptian city of Taba, which borders the Gulf of Aqaba and Eilat, Israel. The bombing killed 4 people – 3 South Koreans and the Egyptian bus driver – and injured 17 others. According to The New York Times, the bombing could "offer worrying new evidence that militants who have been attacking Egypt's security forces for months were broadening their campaign against civilians." <Timeline - October>\\c\\cOn 24 October 2014, 33 army and police soldiers were killed in two separate attacks in North Sinai. The attack was the largest ever since the start of the war on terror in Sinai. As a result of the attack, president Abdel Fattah el-Sisi declared a state of emergency in the governorate after meeting with the National Defence Council for several hours. The state of emergency was to last for three months and to include a daily curfew from 5 pm to 7 am until further notice. <Timeline - October 2014 Sinai attacks>\\c\\cOn 10 November 2014, Ansar Bait al-Maqdis pledged allegiance to the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) forming the Sinai Province group with a confusingly similar name to two Egyptian regional governments. <Timeline - 2015>\\c\\cOn 14 November 2014, ISIL published a video online that included footage of the group carrying out the October 2014 Sinai attacks. <Timeline - January 2015 Sinai attacks>\\c\\cDuring 2015, the intensity and the scale of insurgent attacks expanded. <Timeline - Security response>\\c\\cOn 12 January 2015, Sinai Province kidnapped a police officer while traveling in North Sinai and took him to an unknown location. On the following day on 13 January 2015, Egyptian military spokesperson announced the discovery of the dead body of the officer after launching a search operation. He also said that during the operation 10 militants were killed, while two others were arrested. <Timeline - March>\\c\\cOn 26 January 2015, Sinai Province published a video online that included the kidnapping and execution of the police officer kidnapped on 12 January. <Timeline - June>\\c\\cOn 29 January 2015, militants from the Sinai Province militant group launched a series of attacks on army and police bases in Arish using car bombs and mortars. The attacks, which occurred in more than six different locations, resulted in 44 confirmed deaths including army personnel and civilians. <Timeline - July 2015 Sinai attacks>\\c\\cIt was reported that on 6 February 2015 Egyptian security forces attacked the Sinai Province group, killing 47 Islamic militants in Northern Sinai. <Timeline - July 2015 Sinai attacks>\\c\\cOn 10 March 2015, a suicide attack on a police barracks using a water tanker was stopped after security forces opened fire on the water tanker causing it to explode before it could get into the barracks. One civilian near the scene was killed and two other civilians alongside 30 policemen were wounded in the blast. <Timeline - July 2015 Sinai attacks>\\c\\cOn 2 April 2015, an attack on an army checkpoint resulted in the death of 15 soldiers, 2 civilians and 15 attackers. As a response to the attack, the Egyptian army launched an operation the following day allegedly killing 100 militants. <Timeline - July 2015 Sinai attacks>\\c\\cOn 8 April 2015, eleven civilians were killed in Sheikh Zuweid when an unidentified rocket-propelled grenade hit their homes. A roadside bomb killed two officers in the same city. <Timeline - July 2015 Sinai attacks>\\c\\cOn 12 April 2015, 6 soldiers were killed when their armoured vehicle was bombed in North Sinai. On the same day, a separate attack on a police station in Arish resulted in the death of 5 policemen and 1 civilian. 40 were also injured, both policemen and civilians. The attack on the station was carried out by a suicide-bomber using a bomb-laden van, on which the police forces opened fire, causing a large explosion which reportedly created a large crater and shattered house windows near the police station. Militant group Ansar Beit Al-Maqdis has claimed responsibility for the attacks. <Timeline - July 2015 Sinai attacks>\\c\\cOn 27 April 2015, members from Al-Tarabin tribe in North Sinai launched an attack on Ansar Bayt al-Maqdis positions in Rafah. The attack came after Ansar Bayt al-Maqdis gunmen fatally shot a member of Al-Tarabin tribe in Berth village in southern Rafah, North Sinai, after he refused to take their warning statements ordering them not to deal with the Egyptian military. <Timeline - July 2015 Sinai attacks>\\c\\cOn 16 May 2015, three Egyptian judges and their driver were killed, and a fourth judge was severely wounded when gunmen opened fire on their vehicle in North Sinai. The attack came hours after a Cairo court issued a preliminary death sentence against former president Mohamed Morsi and 105 other defendants on a range of charges, including murder. <Timeline - August>\\c\\cOn 9 June 2015, militants fired rockets at the direction of an airport in Sinai used by the multinational peacekeeping forces. There were no casualties reported. ISIL affiliate Sinai Province claimed responsibility for the attack on several Twitter accounts linked to it. <Timeline - Operation Martyr's Right>\\c\\cOn 1 July 2015, ISIL Sinai Province militants launched one of the largest-scale battles seen in the Sinai Peninsula since the 1973 Yom Kippur War, and the largest attack since the insurgency begun in 2011, on multiple Egyptian army checkpoints in the Sinai Peninsula, killing 21 soldiers and wounding 9. However, unknown Egyptian security and medical officials reported that up to 64 soldiers had been killed in the attacks. The attack also targeted Sheikh Zuweid police station. Reinforcements from the Second Army Zone stationed in Ismailia have been deployed to Sheikh Zuweid, including Apache helicopters and F-16 fighter jets. Militants have reportedly killed several civilians who refused to allow them onto their rooftops to target security forces. An army statement claimed the killing of more than 100 militants from the attacking force. The militant death toll increased in the following days, due to Egyptian military operations in the region, reaching 241 killed. <Timeline - Operation Martyr's Right>\\c\\cOn 4 July 2015, a shell bomb struck a house in Sheikh Zuweid, killing a woman and her two children, the shell also seriously wounded another woman and a teenage girl. On the same day, a roadside bomb targeting army and police vehicles killed a five-year-old child in Rafah town that borders the Palestinian Gaza Strip. Three other children and a woman were also wounded in the blast. <Timeline - Downing of Russian passenger plane>\\c\\cOn 15 July 2015, twenty militants were killed as security forces repelled an attack on a security checkpoint in North Sinai. <Timeline - 2016>\\c\\cOn 16 July 2015, Sinai Province militants attacked an Egyptian navy patrol ship near the border with Israel and the Gaza Strip. The patrol ship was hit by a guided missile. The Egyptian military confirmed the incident and said in a statement that there are no fatalities among the vessel's crew. Huge fireball and then black heavy smoke over the sea were seen at the scene, and witnesses reported seeing other navy vessels rescuing the crew. <Timeline - Palm Sunday church bombings>\\c\\cOn 23 July 2015, an officer and three soldiers were killed and three others were wounded when an improvised roadside bomb hit their armoured vehicle in a village near the town of Rafah. <Timeline - Sinai mosque attack>\\c\\cOn 24 July 2015, the Egyptian army said it has killed 12 terrorists and destroyed two warehouses storing explosive materials. <Timeline - 2018>\\c\\cOn 31 July 2015, the Egyptian military bombed areas of the North Sinai towns of al-Arish and Sheikh Zuweid, killing 20 suspected militants. <Timeline - 2018>\\c\\cOn 1 August 2015, Egyptian army forces surrounded the home of a leading figure of the Sinai-based militant group Ansar Bayt al-Maqdis, in the town of Sheikh Zuweid, before shooting him dead. <Timeline - 2019>\\c\\cOn 3 September 2015, four American and two Fijian Multinational Force and Observers troops were wounded in an attack involving two IEDs. <Timeline - 2019>\\c\\cOn 8 September 2015, the Egyptian military launched a major operation code-named "The Martyr's Right". The operation is the largest and most comprehensive operation aimed at rooting out and killing terrorists since July's immediate response to militant attacks. The operation targeted sites in Rafah, Arish, and Sheikh Zuweid, all towns in the northern areas of the peninsula. <Timeline - 2020>\\c\\c535 militants were killed in September 2015. <Timeline - 2020>\\c\\cOn 13 September 2015, a Fijian soldier attached to the Multinational Force and Observers was wounded by small arms fire. <Timeline - 2020>\\c\\cOn 31 October 2015, a Russian passenger jet disintegrated above the northern Sinai, killing all 224 aboard. The Islamic State's Sinai Province claimed responsibility for the incident. Russian, Egyptian, and western investigators concluded that the plane was brought down by a bomb planted at Sharm Al Sheikh Airport. It was the deadliest air disaster both in the history of Russian aviation and within Egyptian territory at the time. <Timeline - 2021>\\c\\cInsurgent attacks increased in early 2016, nearly doubling between the last quarter of 2015 and the second quarter of 2016. However, according to The Times of Israel, the numbers of attacks and casualties was declining by August 2016. <Timeline - 2021>\\c\\cOn 19 March, an attack on a checkpoint in Arish killed 13 policemen. <Timeline - 2021>\\c\\cAnother attack on 7 April killed 15 soldiers and two civilians. <Timeline - 2021>\\c\\cIn May, Egyptian security forces launched an air attack on Jabal Halal, a region with an extensive cave system that was a major insurgent stronghold. According to the Egyptian military, 88 militants were killed and many supply caches were destroyed. <Timeline - 2021>\\c\\cOn 28 June, A series of air strikes killed 30 ISIS fighters and injured 50 others. <Timeline - 2021>\\c\\cThen, on 4 August, the army claimed to have killed the leader of Sinai Province, Abu Duaa al-Ansari. Independent sources were unable to verify this claim, or even the existence of al-Ansari. Previous reports had described Abu Osama al-Masri as the leader. <Timeline - 2021> <Timeline - 2021>\\c\\cOn 14 October a total 12 soldiers and 15 militants were killed. On 17 October several clashes in North Sinai left 3 soldiers and 18 insurgents dead. On 30 October a military operation in North Sinai left 4 soldiers and 6 insurgents dead. <Timeline - 2021>\\c\\cOn 5 November Egyptian soldiers killed at least 11 terrorist. On 10 November army soldiers killed at least 6 insurgents. <Timeline - 2021>\\c\\cOn 9 January 2017, an attack by several gunmen and a truck bomb on a police checkpoint in El-Arish causing at least 13 deaths and 22 injuries, according to official sources. One of the attackers, drove a stolen rubbish truck loaded with explosive at the security checkpoint, as gunmen opened fire on police forces. <Timeline - 2021>\\c\\cOn February 2017, ISIS produced a video calling for attacks against Christians. In April, ISIS attacked several churches in Egypt Known as Palm Sunday church bombings. The attacks killed over 40 people. <Timeline - 2021>\\c\\cIn July, a militant raid on an army checkpoint resulted in the deaths of at least 23 soldiers. The checkpoint was looted for weapons and ammunition before the attackers fled the scene. Later that month an attack targeting police killed 5 officers and wounded 11 in the city of el-Arish. A later roadside bomb south of the city wounded a further 6 officers. The attacks came the same day officials claimed the Egyptian Air Force had killed at least 30 militants in strikes on a gathering. <Timeline - 2021>\\c\\cIn September, officers were again attacked in el-Arish, with 18 killed and 7 wounded in an assault involving roadside bombs and small arms fire. <Timeline - 2021>\\c\\cOn 24 November 2017, the Sufi al-Rawda mosque in the town of Bir al-Abed, North Sinai Governorate, Egypt was attacked by around forty gunmen during Friday prayers. The gun and bomb attack killed at least 235 people and injured more than 120, making it the deadliest terrorist attack in Egyptian history and the second deadliest attack in 2017, after the 14 October 2017 Mogadishu bombings. Other reports of the attack assert that over 300 deaths occurred. <Timeline - 2021>\\c\\cOn 19 December 2017, El Arish International Airport was attacked in an attempt to assassinate the Minister of Interior Magdi Abdel-Ghaffar and the minister of defense Sedki Sobhy. The assassination attempt failed and one officer was killed and two were injured. ISIS used kornet anti-tank missile in the attack. Next day a new clash started near the airport where 5 ISIS militants were killed and an army captain was killed. <Timeline - 2021>\\c\\cOn 9 February 2018, Col. Tamer el-Refai, the military's spokesman, announced in a statement on state-run television, titled "Communique 1 from the General Command of the Armed Forces", the launching of Comprehensive Operation – Sinai 2018. Three Egyptian soldiers were also killed. <Areas of insurgency - Outside of Sinai>\\c\\cIn November 2019, Egyptian forces killed 83 suspected fighters in operations in central and North Sinai. <Areas of insurgency - Outside of Sinai>\\c\\cFrom 2018 to 2020, 840 militants were killed by Egyptian Security Forces who lost 67 soldiers in return. In March 2020, Egyptian forces managed to kill Abu Fares Al-Ansari, a commander of Ansar Bait al-Maqdis, in Al Ajra\' area south of Rafah. <Areas of insurgency - Outside of Sinai>\\c\\cOn 1 May 2020, ISIL claimed responsibility via its Amaq News Agency for a bombing that killed and wounded several Egyptian Army personnel near the city of Bir al-Abd in North Sinai Governorate. In retaliation, Egyptian police managed to kill 18 extremist militants in a raid in northern Sinai Peninsula. <Areas of insurgency - Outside of Sinai>\\c\\cOn 21 July 2020, ISIS captured five villages in Sinai west of Bir al-Abd. <Areas of insurgency - Outside of Sinai>\\c\\cOn 26–28 August 2020, Egypt retook the fives villages and killed 73 ISIS operatives. <Areas of insurgency - Outside of Sinai>\\c\\cOn 1 January 2021, a roadside bomb killed two members of Egypt's security forces and wounded five others near Bir al-Abd in the northern Sinai Peninsula. [RM] In the Gaza Strip>\\c\\cOn February 9, 2021, local sources reported that six fighters of the tribal militias supporting the Egyptian regime had been killed and another fighter had been abducted in central Sinai in an ISIS ambush. February 22, 2021, ISIS operatives fired at an Egyptian army patrol south of Sheikh Zuweid, near a roadblock. [ADD] [ADD] February 9, 2021, local sources reported that six fighters of the tribal militias supporting the Egyptian regime had been killed and another fighter had been abducted in central Sinai in an ISIS ambush. In the Gaza Strip>\\c\\cOn February 27, 2021, IS operatives exploded an IED targeting an Egyptian foot patrol. The explosion killed 3 Egyptian soldiers including a colonel, Ahmad Abdel Mohsen. One other soldier was also wounded. <Egyptian response - Military tactics>\\c\\cOn March 11, 2021, IS claimed responsibility for killing a father and his son because they were \'collaborating\' with Egyptian authorities. <Egyptian response - Military tactics>\\c\\cIn March 2021, Human Rights Watch accused the Egyptian armed forces of violating international human rights law and committing war crimes by demolishing more than 12,300 residential and commercial buildings and 6,000 hectares of farmland since 2013 in North Sinai. <Egyptian response - Military tactics>\\c\\cOn March 22, 2021, The Egyptian forces managed to eliminate Saleem Al-Hamadiin, a veteran commander of ISIS, in a joint operation with the local tribes in the village of Al-Barth, south of Rafah. <Egyptian response - Military tactics>\\c\\cOn April 5, 2021, ISIL released photos showing the execution of an alleged spy, who was apparently working for the Egyptian authorities. <Egyptian response - Military tactics>\\c\\cOn 17 April, ISIS released footage of them executing a Coptic christian and 2 other tribal fighters. They issued the execution footage as a \'warning to the christians of Egypt\'. In the same release, they also released videos of sniping and IED attacks and an attack on Egyptian tribal forces, leaving at least 4 tribesmen dead. <Egyptian response - Military tactics>\\c\\cOn 1 May, ISIS operatives broke into houses in Al-Amal, south of Al-Arish, searching for suspected collaborators with the Egyptian army. Being unable to find them, they executed three of their relatives <Egyptian response - Military tactics>\\c\\cOn May 30, Colonel Khaled Al-Arian was killed by an ISIS sniper attack on an Egyptian army patrol in Sheikh Zuweid, in northern Sinai. IS also released photos of them executing two alleged \'collaborators\', supposedly working with the Egyptian army. <Egyptian response - Military tactics>\\c\\cOn June 4, an Egyptian officer was killed in Sinai: Ahmad Jum\'ah, an intelligence officer with the rank of lieutenant colonel, was killed in the detonation of an IED in northern Sinai. The attack was blamed on ISIS. July 31, ISIS militants ambushed a group of Egyptian soldiers at their security checkpoint in Sheikh Zuweid, northern Sinai. [ADD] <Egyptian response - Military tactics>\\c\\cOn 3 ISIS militants were also killed in the shootout. [ADD] <Egyptian response - Judicial response>\\c\\cOn Meanwhile, 13 tunnel entrances were destroyed at the borders with the Gaza Strip and Israel. <Alleged Israeli involvement>\\c\\cOn August 9, an ISIS IED was activated south of Rafah against an Egyptian army vehicle killing Mohammad Abd Motagalli, an Egyptian army colonel. Now, daily clashes with militants in North Sinai are reported by the army. The insurgency has not spread to south Sinai, where there are tourist hubs. In the northeastern part of the peninsula, checkpoints have often been established by militants as the army lack the power to stop them. [ADD] <Alleged Israeli involvement>\\c\\cOn [ADD] August 13, eight soldiers were killed and six more wounded as a roadside bomb explodes in Rafah, Egypt. The Islamic State claimed responsibility for the attack. <Reactions - Israel>\\c\\cOn 28 November 2014, the militant group Sinai Province claimed responsibility for the killing of 2 army personnel in Cairo and Qaliubiya. <Reactions - Israel>\\c\\cOn 1 December 2014, Sinai Province claimed responsibility for killing a United States citizen in Egypt's western desert in August 2014. <Reactions - Israel>\\c\\cOn 21 December 2014, the Egyptian police raided an Ansar Beit Al-Maqdis cell in the Nile Delta killing 5 members. <Reactions - Israel>\\c\\cOn 26 December 2014, two Ansar Bait al-Maqdis militants were killed in a gunfight in El-Salam City, on the eastern outskirts of Cairo. The Ministry of Interior later identified one of the dead militants as the commander of Ansar Beit El-Maqdis in the Nile Delta. <Reactions - Israel>\\c\\cOn 11 July 2015, a car-bomb exploded near the Italian consulate in Cairo, killing one person and injuring nine others. The Army of Islam, a U.S. designated terrorist organization based in the Gaza Strip, is responsible for training and supplying many militant organizations and jihadist members in Sinai. The Army of Islam smuggles members into the Gaza Strip for training, then returns them to the Sinai Peninsula to engage in terrorist and jihadist activities. <Reactions - Israel>\\c\\cThe disposition of Egyptian forces in the Sinai peninsula is mandated by the Camp David Accords and monitored by the 1,600 foreign troops that make up the Multinational Force and Observers. Egypt is permitted only enough military forces in the Sinai to enforce security. <Reactions - Israel>\\c\\cIn 2011, Egypt sent an additional 2,500 troops and 250 armored personnel, with helicopters as part of Operation Eagle, a mission to provide security during the power transition from then-recently fallen Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak. Operation Eagle was joined by Operation Sinai in 2012, which came in response to a militant attack against an Egyptian border post 5 August that killed 16 border guards. Together, the two operations increased the total troop count by more than 2,500 added 80 vehicles and at least two attack helicopters. Egypt also was allowed to deploy armed fighter jets to El Arish to assist its ground forces in Sinai. <Reactions - United States>\\c\\cEgypt's expanded force structure in Sinai is designed to deny militants sanctuary by bringing more force to bear than the municipal police alone can provide. Many of the new forces are stationed in the northeast of Sinai along the Egyptian border with Gaza. Setting up roadblocks and checkpoints to monitor and inspect traffic transiting the Sinai Peninsula to counter this smuggling. <Reactions - United States>\\c\\cIn the October 2014 attacks, for the first time the militants in Sinai used suicide truck bombs to breach army roadblocks and strongpoints, then followed them with an infantry attack. <Reactions - United States>\\c\\cAfter the October attacks, the Egyptian military began using armed drones for the first time since the Sinai insurgency began. And as a measure to counter weapon and militant trafficking between Egypt and Gaza strip, the Egyptian government announced the creation of a buffer zone along the Egypt-Gaza border. <Reactions - Multinational Force and Observers in Sinai>\\c\\cFollowing the attacks on army and police bases in Arish in early 2015, the Egyptian President issued a decree to create a unified military command for the east of the Suez Canal to combat terrorism. Led by General Osama Roshdy Askar, it was to guide counter-terrorism activities of the Second and Third Armies. <Reactions - Jordan>\\c\\cOn 27 April 2015, Egypt's Prime Minister Ibrahim Mahlab issued a decree ordering the isolation and evacuation of new areas in North Sinai's Rafah city, thus expanding the buffer zone. <Reactions - Other>\\c\\cnan