3 dead in Sinai bombing as attacks on civilian institutions increase

Three people were killed and three others were injured in a bombing targeting a security truck in Shiekh Zuwayed, North Sinai, the official Middle East News Agency (MENA) reported.

One of victims in the attack is reportedly a police officer, while the two remaining bodies have yet to be identified. The explosive was planted on the Arish-Rafah International Road, near al-Kharouba.

The country also witnessed a series of attacks on civilian targets on Monday, when masked gunmen attacked two banks in Alexandria. Molotov cocktails and live rounds were fired at the Emirates NBD Bank in the al-Asafra district, while others attacked the Al-Ahly National Bank in al-Soyouf in eastern Alexandria. The two incidents left no casualties, according to security forces quoted by state-owned Al-Ahram.

Earlier in February, three bombs went off simultaneously close to three branches of different telecommunications companies in Mohandiseen, while another bombing took place in front of a pizza shop in Imbaba. The targeting of KFC outlets across Cairo was also notable, especially branches in Haram, Helwan, and Monoufiya.

One person was killed when a KFC branch was attacked in Quesna, Monoufiya, and another was injured.

Many observers link the current targeting of civilian institutions to the economic conference scheduled to take place next week, in which President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi has high hopes of attracting foreign direct investment to save the country’s dwindling economy.

On Monday, Sisi said in a video conference speech during the opening of 19 projects done by the Armed Forces’ engineering department that no one can affect the morale of the Egyptian people, and that “No one can bring Egypt backward again.”

Yet, researcher on counter-terrorism and human rights at the Egyptian Initiative for Personal Rights (EIPR) Sherif Mohy explains to Mada Masr that attacking civilian targets should not just be linked to the economic conference.

Mohy refers to the recent formation of smaller entities that are less organized and not as well armed as known terrorist organizations like Ajnad Misr and the Province of Sinai, who have been systematically targeting security forces since the ouster of former President Mohamed Morsi in July 2013.

These new entities, which cannot strictly be termed terrorist organizations and adopt more of a “rioting” mode, carry out random attacks on mainly civilian targets.

“These attacks have been taking place since the crackdown on the protesters commemorating the fourth anniversary of January 25 revolution. The crackdown on these groups meant an end to peaceful protesting. These attacks have a Muslim Brotherhood flavor,” Mohy explains, referring to groups that name themselves “Revolutionary Punishment” and “Revolutionary Resistance,” and have been lauded on social media within active Brotherhood circles.

For Mohy, these groups represent a more serious threat to civilians than the organized attacks by Ajnad Misr and the Province of Sinai, who both focus primarily on security personnel and those cooperating with them.

“The activities of these groups are unorganized and uncontrolled. Their attacks on civilians yield more casualties and are concentrated in Cairo, Fayoum, Giza and Alexandria. We cannot yet say for sure that the Muslim Brotherhood as an organization is formally moving to violence, but the emergence of these groups at least say there is a direction inside the youth to prefer violence,” he asserted.