Egypt’s pressure on Qatar forces Doha-linked militant wings to emerge: Study shows

on: September 08, 2017

Cairo – Egypt has sought to dry up the sources of terrorism, while countries that back terrorist organizations accelerated terrorist attacks in Egypt. Such countries attempted to abort Cairo’s successful efforts after Egyptian security forces managed to inflict heavy defeats on those terrorist organizations, particularly the offshoots of Muslim Brotherhood (MB) group and Ansar Bait al-Maqdis (Supporters of Jerusalem), which is loyal to the Islamic State terrorist organization (ISIS). Accordingly, there has been a massive surge in terrorist attacks recently.

A study released by Al-Mustaqbal Center for Advanced Studies suggests this rise in terrorist operations is mainly attributed to increasing tension between Egypt and Qatar, as it has been proved that the latter is involved in supporting terrorist groups in Egypt.

The study, conducted by Dr. Shady Abdel Wahhab and titled “Links between Terrorism Escalation in Egypt and Regional Crises,” shows that the escalation of terrorist operations is inextricably linked to Qatar’s role in fanning violence and fomenting unrest in Egypt, the influx of fighters from Syria and Iraq and recruitment of ex-Hamas members by ISIS.

The study reviewed Qatari interference in internal affairs of countries that call for combating terrorism, topped by MB group. Doha provided the terrorist group with required media outlets to attack the Egyptian government. Surprisingly, Qatari state-run Al-Jazeera satellite channel refers to the Arms of Egypt Movement (Hasm) as an armed rather than terrorist movement.

The escalation of violence in Egypt is also attributed to the return of fighters abroad, who joined the ranks of terrorist organizations in Syria, Iraq and Libya, after their massive defeats in these countries.

Victims of terrorist attacks in Egypt

The number of foreign fighters ranges between hundreds and thousands; and they have been trained well to manufacture and detonate explosive devices, according to security estimates.

Furthermore, the terrorist attacks escalated in Egypt after former members of Palestine’s Hamas Movement joined ISIS, as the Egyptian authorities accused the movement of being involved in backing ISIS in Sinai. The Independent British newspaper once reported that dozens of Hamas members have infiltrated into Sinai since the beginning of 2016.

The study pointed out that Egyptian security apparatus has adopted a multi-dimension strategy to counter terrorist threats through gaining the support of tribes and taking security and military procedures to combat terrorism out there. The Egyptian military targeted terrorist groups in eastern Libya and launched airstrikes against them in February 2015 and May 2017.

Furthermore, Egypt has strengthened security measures on border with Gaza Strip through destroying tunnels and establishing checkpoints.

Additionally, Egypt has enhanced its regional cooperation to counter terrorism through having diplomatic coordination with Hamas and exerting efforts to solve the Libyan crisis. Egypt also announced that it is leading a coalition of countries that are in the vanguard of terrorism combat.

The study concluded that although Egypt has managed to carry out preemptive strikes against terrorist organizations, it will face challenges caused by these organizations, particularly ISIS-linked offshoots that use neighboring countries as launching pads for more attacks against Egypt.