Egyptian security forces thwarted a terror attack aimed at tourists in southern
Sinai, the London-based pan Arabic daily Al-Hayat reported on
Tuesday.
According to the report, a total of nine jihadi suspects are in
custody, after being arrested near Gaza on Friday in possession of explosives, a
rocket-propelled grenade launcher and ammunition.
The Al-Hayat report,
which Channel 2 reproduced, cited an Egyptian security source as saying that the
intended attack was supposed to occur during the Muslim holiday of Id
al-Adha.
“It’s too soon to determine how many jihadi cells exist in
various districts [in Sinai],” the newspaper quoted the security source as
saying, adding that the terrorists’ intention had been to strike vital
assets.
Earlier this month, Egyptian security forces engaged a Libyan
terror suspect in a firefight, after he came under suspicion of being involved
in the deadly attack on the US embassy in Benghazi, Libya.
The suspect
was killed in a Cairo suburb and was found to be heavily armed with
rocket-propelled and handheld grenades.
Israel has urged its citizens to
refrain from traveling to Sinai under any circumstances.
The National
Security Council says a “concrete and very high” threat level has existed in the
peninsula for a while and continues to remain a high threat to anyone who enters
the area.
The IDF’s Southern Command, meanwhile, remains on a continuous
state of alert for further attempts by Sinaior Gaza-based jihadi elements to
launch a cross-border attack on Israel.
“The Sinai border will continue
challenging us. We made a great effort in the past two years to close the border
[with a security fence], and it is closed – but even when it is closed, the
threat does not stop,” IDF Chief of Staff Lt.- Gen. Benny Gantz said last month
following a deadly border shooting that claimed the life of an IDF
soldier.
The army has recently deployed the field intelligence Racoon and
Granite vehicles – which are packed with surveillance equipment – to the border
area as part of its efforts to gain better intelligence on threats from
Sinai.
Uncovering and neutralizing roadside bombs has also become a major
focus of military forces securing the southern border.
In August, two
rockets were fired at Eilat from Sinai.