The Barahma tribe in Sinai handed a significant number of weapons and ammunition over to the Armed Forces on Monday, said the Interior Ministry.
The move is a response to Defense Minister Abdel Fatah al-Sisi’s initiative to control unlicensed weapons in Sinai, and is intended to as an example to other tribes in the region to take similar steps in order to secure the stability and security of the peninsula.
The Interior Ministry said on 10 August that the authorities have seized over 20,000 weapons in Sinai over the past months, in addition to a high number of heavy arms and ammunition.
Sinai activist Saeed Ateiq told Al-Masry Al-Youm last May that the number of weapons in Sinai multiplied by 50 percent after the revolution because of the nation-wide security vacuum, but he noted that the presence of weapons in Sinai goes back to before the 25 January.
In fact, weapons have always been present in Sinai, said local activist Mosaad Abu Fagr, who added, “The Bedouins use arms to protect their land and families, and do not raise them except in the face of their enemies.”
The army won’t give up an inch of Sinai no matter the cost, said Chief of Staff Sidqy Sobhy. The police and the Armed Forces will not allow criminal havens to persist in Sinai, said Sobhy, adding that the security operations the army is currently conducting are not against innocent people.
"The doctrine of the Armed Forces is not to control thoughts with arms, but to hold up arms against those raise them in the faces of innocent citizens," Sobhy stated during a meeting with tribal leaders in South Sinai.
Sobhy relayed the apology of the defense minister for not attending the meeting. "The people of Sinai are an honor to us, and their blood has mixed with the blood of the armed forces in defending Sinai. We promise to maintain the Bedouin integration by including the people of Sinai in state plans for achieving development, while protecting local traditions," he said.
Meanwhile, conflicting reports have appeared regarding Operation Eagle, which the army launched after the 5 August attack near the Rafah border crossing to Irael that left 16 Egyptian security officials dead.
The German news agency DPA quoted witnesses as saying that as of now, Sinai is quiet — particularly the eastern area, where the cities of Rafah and Sheikh Zuwayed are located — and there have been no raids or operations latel.
However, a security source told the DPA that the current quiet in Sinai is only a brief break as the army awaits the results of a meeting between Sisi, Sobhy and security and tribal leaders held in South Sinai on Monday.
State-run Al-Ahram newspaper quoted a military source as saying that Operation Eagle had not been suspended, denying rumors that the operation had been halted when extremist from Rafah and Sheikh Zuwayed agreed to halt the violence in exchange.
Edited translation from Al-Masry Al-Youm
