It’s been a month since the government of President Abdul Fattah Al Sissi imposed a state of emergency in Egypt in a concerted security crackdown against terrorist elements there. The imposition of the state of emergency was a direct result of attacks by Daesh (the self-proclaimed Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant) on two Coptic churches, attacks that killed 45 worshippers and injured scores more. The security crackdown now is paying dividends, with a gang of eight terrorists killed by security forces earlier this week. The terrorists were training and honing their killing skills at a training camp when they were intercepted and eradicated by Egyptian soldiers. According to reports, one of the dead included Helmi Masri Mohareb, well-known to police and security for his role in helping to transport and provide logistical support to Daesh terrorists as they sought secluded areas in the Sinai Peninsula to train.
This successful operation is but the latest in a series in the state of emergency rightly ordered by President Al Sissi. The fight against Daesh and terrorists needs the full weight and efforts of the Egyptian intelligence, military, security and judicial apparatus, and President Al Sissi has brought those efforts into focus since coming to office. Indeed, where there is a lack of determination or any sign of weakness, Daesh and other militant groups exploit that failing to further their extremist aims and spread their agenda of hate.
Prior to the advent of Al Sissi to Egypt’s highest office, these militant groups and hate mongers thrived in an environment where the former Muslim Brotherhood leadership and government were unwilling, unable and unconvinced about the need to crack down hard on extremists and radicals.
Two of the terrorists killed in the successful security service operation were also members of the Muslim Brotherhood, and there can be no doubt that this nefarious organisation is working hand-in-hand with extremist groups who will kill, maim and exploit to further their own goals. There is also evidence now that the Muslim Brotherhood, though scourged and erased from Egypt, is now directing acts of subversion and anti-government activities from abroad, beyond the clutches of the Egyptian state security network. With the groups backing too, radicals are being secreted to foreign training camps, being given training in how to organise, plot and kill and to evade capture.
There can be no let-up in the Egyptian government’s fight against the forces of evil — and the Muslim Brotherhood. Where ever these radicals hide, scheme or engage, they must be eradicated — and the sooner the better.
