Five terrorists killed in Sinai as a result of Israeli-Egyptian intelligence cooperation DEBKAfile Special Report August 9, 2013, 7:30 PM (IDT) Tags: Terrorism, Intelligence sharing and military cooperation between Egypt and Israel foiled a terrorist missile attack from Sinai on Eilat Thursday, Aug. 8, say foreign sources. Egyptian security officials reported that an Israeli drone fired a missile in the northern Sinai peninsula, killing five suspected Islamic militants and destroying one or more launchers. Egyptian military helicopters circled over head. The launcher or launchers, said the officials, were rigged for launching against targets in Israel from the vicinity of Egyptian Rafah in northern Sinai. Residents heard a large explosion Friday in the region near the border with Israel. The Israeli military has refused to comment on the report. DEBKAfile’s military sources report that it is not absolutely clear that the Israeli air force was responsible for the attack on the terrorists’ missile squad. It may have been an Egyptian operation in the course of its counter-terrorism campaign ongoing in Sinai for which the Egyptian command prefers not to admit happened on the Eid al Fitr festival. According to those sources, six terrorists were killed, not five as reported. Eilat has come under rocket fire from Sinai in the past. The Israeli military has refused to comment on the report. DEBKAfile’s military sources say it is not absolutely clear that the Israeli air force was responsible for the missile attack on the terrorists’ missile squad. It may have been an Egyptian operation in the course of its counter-terrorism campaign ongoing in Sinai, to which the Egyptian command preferred not to own up because it occurred on the Eid al Fitr festival. According to those sources, six terrorists were killed, not five as reported, at al Gora, south of Egyptian Rafah not from the Egyptian-Gazan border. The terrorist group was apparently in flight from a part of the Egyptian-Israeli border opposite Eilat from where they had planned to strike Israel’s southernmost airport Thursday night. Their route 230 km north toward the Gaza border indicated they planned to cross over and reaching safety in the Palestinian Hamas-ruled enclave. DEBKAfile’s military sources report further that the military-intelligence cooperation in force between Israel and Egypt in the war against Salafist, al Qaeda and Hamas jihadis broke surface Friday when an Egyptian security official told The Associated Press that intelligence suggesting terrorists planned to fire missiles Friday at Israel as well as locations in northern Sinai and the Suez Canal was passed by Egypt to Israel. Eilat airport was closed for two hours Thursday night in response to the tip-off. The official also said that Egyptian authorities planned to start air patrols Thursday night over the Naqab desert in the Egyptian Sinai, where Islamist terrorists have hideouts. Egyptian airports in the Sinai operated normally into Thursday night despite the warning, including those in the resort cities of Sharm el-Sheikh and Taba, said Gad el-Karim Nasr, the head of state-owned Egyptian Airports Co. Taba is only 10 kilometers from Eilat.
Posted on: Fri, 09 Aug 2013 23:19:42 +0000
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