Rebel attack kills 21 Egyptian border guards

On July 19, unidentified gunmen used heavy machine guns and rocket-propelled grenades to attack a military checkpoint in the western region bordering Libya and Sudan, killing 21 Egyptian border guards and injuring four others.

An Egyptian military spokesman said three of about 20 attackers were killed in the surprise attack in the desert area of ​​El-Farafrah, in the western province of Al-Wadi Al-Gedid, about 630km west of the capital Cairo.

Egyptian security forces cordon off the scene of a bomb explosion in Cairo on May 2. Illustrative photo. (Source: AFP/VNA)

The military checkpoint’s weapons depot exploded during a gunfight between soldiers and gunmen. Meanwhile, the army seized two vehicles loaded with weapons from the rebels at the scene and defused the explosives.

This is one of the deadliest attacks on Egyptian security forces since the July 3 coup last year that overthrew Islamist President Mohamed Morsi.

The government-run Al Ahram newspaper said the checkpoint had been attacked two months ago, killing five soldiers and one army officer. Last week, seven civilians and one soldier were killed in a rocket-propelled grenade attack in the Sinai Peninsula.

In August last year, 25 Egyptian police conscripts were also executed by militants in the same volatile region.

Islamist groups have carried out a series of attacks on Egypt’s military and police amid a government crackdown on supporters of the Islamist leader. More than 1,400 Islamist protesters have been killed in street clashes and some 15,000 others have been arrested, including about 200 who have been sentenced to death.

Meanwhile, according to official statistics, at least 500 people, mostly soldiers and police, have been killed in attacks by Islamic extremists.

Hours after the attack, Egyptian authorities declared a state of emergency along the southern border with Sudan. A security source in Red Sea province said defensive measures had been put in place, along with increased security at the province’s seaports and airports.

The Egyptian presidential palace and interior ministry issued a statement affirming that they will severely punish the perpetrators of the attack and pledged to drive terrorists out of the country.

On the same day, Egyptian President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi met with security officials and ordered three days of national mourning starting July 20 to commemorate the victims of the attack.

The serious incident occurred in the context that the Egyptian government has repeatedly warned about the risk of spreading violence from across the border in Libya, a neighboring country that has been in a state of instability since the NATO-backed military campaign toppled the regime of late President Muammar Qaddafi in 2011./.

According to VNA