Egypt investigating 600 who traveled abroad for connections to Islamic State

Security authorities are also reportedly investigating 5 suspected Egyptians who trained with Islamic State and returned from Syria to carry out terrorist attacks.

By ARIEL BEN SOLOMON
An Islamic State fighter carries the group’s flag in Raqqa, north-central Syria. (photo credit: REUTERS)
An Islamic State fighter carries the group’s flag in Raqqa, north-central Syria.
(photo credit: REUTERS)
Egyptian security authorities are investigating 600 citizens for connections to Islamic State after they traveled abroad to Iraq and Syria before the 2013 uprising that ousted former president Mohamed Morsi, a security source at the National Security Agency said.
Security authorities are also investigating five suspected Egyptians who trained with the Islamic State and returned from Syria to carry out terrorist attacks, the Egypt Independent reported on Monday.
The suspects are telling investigators detailed information such as how they were trained on how to carry out suicide attacks and use weapons.
The suspects said that they were awaiting orders to carry out attacks and had already took part in fighting against the Syrian government.
The security source also said that the five entered Syria via Turkey.
The army killed three suspected terrorists, arrested 15, and destroyed 14 sites, seizing weapons and explosives on Monday, Ahram Online reported.
Security forces safely detonated an explosive device on Monday on the el-Arish-Rafah road, according to Egyptian state news agency MENA.
A similar roadside bomb exploded on an army armored vehicle on Saturday in Sinai along the el-Arish-Rafah road, wounding a soldier and a civilian, a security source told Egyptian news website Aswat Masriya.
President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi said on Monday that more measures would be taken to create the buffer zone on the border with Gaza and that Sinai residents would be paid compensation of one billion Egyptian pounds, MENA reported.
Egypt began clearing residents from its border with the Gaza Strip on Wednesday to create a buffer zone following some of the worst anti-state violence since President Mohamed Morsi was overthrown last year.
Egypt declared a state of emergency in the border area after at least 33 security personnel were killed last month in two attacks in Sinai.
Security forces will evacuate 1156 families by the end of the operation. Ahram Online reported on Monday.
Reuters contributed to this report.


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