Is Egypt winning war on terror in Sinai?

RAFAH, Egypt — The army says terrorism is reeling in the Sinai Peninsula and the Egyptian press and media frequently report positive results in the "great war against terrorism." According to locals, however, the ongoing war remains undecided nine months after it began in the peninsula.  

Statements by Egyptian military commanders and officials claim that the Egyptian army has fully succeeded in controlling the Sinai Peninsula. The latter was turned into a killing ground where members of security and military institutions were targeted by terrorist organizations following the ouster of the elected Muslim Brotherhood President Mohammed Morsi on July 3, 2013.

A police officer in Sinai’s capital el-Arish, who spoke on condition of anonymity, told Al-Monitor, "More than 400 security personnel were injured and killed in a variety of terrorist incidents in the northern Sinai — particularly in the areas between el-Arish, Sheikh Zuweid, Rafah and the surrounding villages — after Morsi was deposed. The Sinai was beyond the control of security agencies since the beginning of the January 25 Revolution, and the situation constituted a national and international danger for the whole region, as a result of its close proximity to the Palestinian-Israeli conflict.”

Sinai residents acknowledged that army forces succeeded in gaining control of the peninsula after a period when it was turned into a playground for religious extremist factions. Al-Monitor spoke with Selim Armilat, who hails from the Armilat clan, one of the largest tribes in the Sinai Peninsula. “The Sinai had slipped outside Egyptian sovereignty, but the security situation changed following the army’s control of the region. In truth, the repeated press statements issued by officials concerning the near demise of extremist religious factions is completely false. Getting rid of those groups cannot occur unless the Egyptian government restores its trust and interest in the Sinai’s inhabitants,” he said.