Two dead in Egypt as regime struggles with anti-terrorism strategy
Security forces were combing the area in search of the suspects.
By ARIEL BEN SOLOMONUpdated: SEPTEMBER 8, 2015 05:23Egyptian military helicopters fly over a republican guard around the congress hall during the Arab Summit in Sharm el-Sheikh, in the South Sinai governorate, south of Cairo, March 28(photo credit: REUTERS)
Suspected Islamist insurgents carried out two attacks in Egypt on Monday against security forces, wounding at least 10 and killing two.An attack at a police checkpoint in the Nile Delta governorate of Beheira wounded five policemen, according to the Interior Ministry, Egyptian media reported.Security forces were combing the area in search of the suspects.In Sinai, a roadside bomb hit a military vehicle, killing two and wounding five soldiers, a security official said, according to AP.The attack was carried out south of Rafah.Yoram Meital, chairman of the Chaim Herzog Center for Middle East Studies and Diplomacy at Ben-Gurion University of the Negev in Beersheba, told The Jerusalem Post on Monday that on one hand President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi’s government has been able to produce a kind of stability, but on the other, it has violated peoples’ rights.Many of the people caught in the crackdowns are not terrorists, but members of the domestic opposition, he said.According to contacts he is in touch with in Egypt, the government has been able to produce a kind of stability in terms of the economy and in major cities, Meital said.This has led to a return to a kind of normalcy, but “this fierce struggle between the regime and the militants in Sinai and throughout the country is far from over,” he added.“Sisi was elected as Mr. Security to use a heavy hand against terror,” he said, noting that the results have been mixed, as many complain about the government going too far and violating peoples’ rights.
Legislative initiatives by the government meant to fight terrorism have been criticized by local legal scholars for violating the country’s constitution, continued Meital, concluding that there is a constant tension between security efforts and civilian rights.