An Israeli long-range Heron drone which is being used in the Horn of Africa nation of Somalia. 17 people were killed in Israeli air attacks on November 24, 2011., a photo by Pan-African News Wire File Photos on Flickr.
Explosions in Northern Sinai, Egypt denies Israeli involvement
Egyptian army deny Israeli involvement in explosion heard in Ajraa in North Sinai that reportedly killed Islamist militants; Israeli army refuse to comment
Ahram Online, AP, Friday 9 Aug 2013
Israel's Eilat airport reopens after brief shutdown
A loud explosion coming from the area of Ajraa in Egypt's North Sinai was heard at 4.15pm by residents of south Rafah, Egypt's military spokesperson Ahmed Ali confirmed Friday.
Egypt's official MENA news agency said an explosion destroyed a rocket launcher set up near the border to launch attacks against Israel, and at least five Islamic militants were killed. But it did not elaborate.
In response to conflicting media statements about the incident, Egyptian army spokesperson Ahmed Ali stressed that there's no truth to media claims of an Israeli attack on Egyptian soil, nor to claims of Egyptian-Israeli coordination, requesting media to verify its information before publishing, especially on issues of national security.
He indicated in a statement on his official Facebook page, that the army is still in the process of examining the area around the explosions and is collecting evidence on the situation there. Earlier reports by AP quoted two senior Egyptian officials stating that Israel fired a missile into the northern Sinai Peninsula, killing five suspected Islamic militants and destroying a rocket launcher.
The Israeli army spokeswoman declined to comment on the explosion which took place Friday afternoon in North Sinai near the Egyptian-Israeli border, according to Reuters.
An earlier Facebook statement by the Egyptian army spokesperson confirmed the two explosions, paralleling personal testimonies from Sinai.
Sinai activist Mostafa Singer indicated on his Facebook account that, according to eye witnesses, an Egyptian Apache helicopter was seen circling the Rafah area before, during and after the explosion, adding that surveillance cameras are spread throughout the Egyptian-Israeli border, diminishing the likelihood of a one-sided attack.
On Thursday, the Israeli military ordered the cancellation of all flights in and out of the Red Sea resort of Eilat for a brief period following a security assessment.
Last month, Israel deployed a battery of its Iron Dome missile defence system near Eilat, which abuts the border with Egypt's troubled Sinai Peninsula, AFP reported.
Media reports at the time said the deployment was related to unrest in Egypt's Sinai, where the army is waging a campaign to drive out militants.
Sixty people have reportedly been killed by militants attacking security checkpoints since Mohamed Morsi's ouster.
Israeli drone strike kills five suspected Islamic militants in Egypt
ASHRAF SWEILAM, Associated Press 13/08/09 4:45 PM ET
An Israeli drone strike killed five suspected Islamic militants and destroyed a rocket launcher in Egypt’s largely lawless Sinai Peninsula on Friday, two senior Egyptian security officials said, describing a rare Israeli operation carried out in its Arab neighbor’s territory.
The attack came a day after Israel briefly closed its airport in the Red Sea resort of Eilat, close to the Sinai, in response to unspecified security warnings. Eilat was previously targeted by rocket fire from the Sinai.
Israel maintained official silence about the strike, suggesting that if the Jewish state was involved, it might be trying to avoid embarrassing the Egyptian military. An Egyptian military spokesman later denied the report but did not provide another cause for the explosion.
Egypt’s official MENA news agency said an explosion destroyed a rocket launcher set up near the border to launch attacks against Israel, and at least five Islamic militants were killed. But it did not elaborate.
The Israeli military on August 8, 2013 ordered the cancellation of all flights in and out of the Red Sea resort of Eilat following a security assessment, a spokeswoman said.
An Israeli drone attack in the Sinai could signal a significant new level of security cooperation between the two former foes following a military coup that ousted Egypt’s president, Mohammed Morsi, last month. The military has alleged that Morsi and his Muslim Brotherhood movement had turned a blind eye to Islamic militants in the Sinai.
Meanwhile, Morsi’s ouster, which came after mass protests demanding he step down, has triggered a rise in attacks against security forces on the peninsula, raising fears that extremists could exploit Islamist anger to spread their insurgency.
The Egyptian security officials, who spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to release the information, said the Israeli attack was launched in cooperation with Egyptian authorities despite past insistence that the government would not allow other countries to use its territories to launch attacks.
Islamist supporters of deposed Egyptian president Mohamed Morsi planned new rallies as the interim premier suggested a crackdown on their protest camps was imminent.
Residents heard a large explosion Friday in el-Agra, an area in the northern region of the Sinai close to the border with Israel. The Sinai is also internationally renowned for its Red Sea resorts in the south.
The Israeli military said only that it was looking into the report after being contacted by the AP.
Egyptian military spokesman Col. Ahmed Mohammed Ali initially said on his official Facebook page that security forces were investigating two explosions in el-Agra. He later issued a statement denying “in form and substance any attacks from the Israeli side inside Egyptian territories” and saying the claim of cooperation was “baseless.”
The Egyptian security officials told The Associated Press that the drone had been flying over the site of the attack since early Friday.
Egypt’s military and security forces have long been engaged in a battle against Islamic militants in the northern half of the peninsula. Militants and tribesmen also have been engaged in smuggling and other criminal activity in the area for years.
Amid the political turmoil facing the nation in the more than two years since longtime autocratic leader Hosni Mubarak was ousted, Egypt has adhered to a 1979 peace deal with Israel.
But militants have fired rockets toward Eilat, a major destination for domestic and international tourists on Israel’s southern tip.
Israel briefly closed its airport there on Thursday, citing unspecified security concerns. An Egyptian security official told the AP that officials warned Israel about the possibility of rocket strikes. The official said Egyptian authorities received intelligence suggesting terrorist groups planned to fire missiles Friday at Israel, as well as at locations in northern Sinai and the Suez Canal.
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