Gov’t seeks global support in anti-terror efforts following deadly attacks

The Egyptian government has embarked on a domestic and international campaign against terrorism in response to Monday’s assassination of Prosecutor General Hesham Barakat and Wednesday’s deadly attacks in Sinai.

Late Thursday evening, the Defense Ministry released a video that was aired on all Egyptian satellite channels featuring the testimonies of officers and soldiers involved in the attacks against a number of military sites and checkpoints in the North Sinai city of Sheikh Zuwayed. The assaults and subsequent clashes killed 17 army personnel and 100 purported militants, according to Armed Forces spokesperson Mohamed Samir, though medical sources reported a higher death toll.

Video footage purportedly showed army operations in the embattled peninsula, captives allegedly belonging to the Islamic State and the bodies of militants slain during an exchange of fire with security forces.

“The heroes of the Armed Forces were in a new epic journey to foil a strong terrorist plot aimed at attacking military sites and checkpoints in Sheikh Zuwayed and Rafah in order to cause a state of chaos and security vacuum, as well as spread illusions that Sheikh Zuwayed was under the control of jihadist groups,” claimed the video’s narration.

Footage then cuts to the army officer in charge of the Rifea checkpoint, who saw most of his soldiers die. He describes how the checkpoint was targeted by militants, and how his soldiers managed to defeat them.

“One of the soldiers was injured in his back, but he continued to target the jihadists and killed 12 of them before he died. I wish I could have seen my soldiers before they were buried and attend their funerals, but I know they were heroes,” the officer said.

The video went viral on social media and got almost 250,000 views in less than 24 hours.

On the international front, the Foreign Affairs Ministry released a statement late Thursday declaring that Egyptian diplomatic missions were working worldwide to strengthen the global fight against terrorism by “exposing the truth” of radical militant groups to the international community.

Ministry officials also plan meet with foreign ambassadors to brief them on the current situation and Egypt’s counter-terrorism efforts, the statement said.

Egypt will further pressure regional and international organizations like the Arab League, the African Union and the United Nations to take serious measures against terrorism, the ministry asserted, as well as work with countries who pledged to exchange intelligence information, uproot funding sources for terrorism and provide Egypt with the military preparations needed in operations against terrorist groups.

Both the European Union and the United States pledged their support to the Egyptian government in the aftermath of Barakat’s assassination. The EU said that it “reaffirms its commitment to support Egypt in its fight against terrorism,” while the US State Department released a similar statement.

But the Foreign Affairs Ministry then criticized some “western circles” of differentiating between radical terrorist groups and more moderate Islamist organizations, describing such a distinction as a huge mistake.

“These organizations are connected with one ideology, with unified goals and operational coordination on the ground,” the ministry claimed.

The statement was specifically referring to international human rights organizations like Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch (HRW), who urged the Egyptian government to overturn death sentences issued against former President Mohamed Morsi and other former Muslim Brotherhood leaders. Both organizations have stridently criticized Egypt for its human rights record over the past two years.

In a Monday statement, Amnesty International urged the Egyptian government to bring Barakat’s murderers to justice without committing violations against human rights or implementing the death penalty.

“The killing of Prosecutor General Hesham Barakat was a despicable, cowardly and cold-blooded act of murder,” said Said Boumedouha, the deputy Middle East and North Africa program director at Amnesty International.

“If the rule of law is to prevail in Egypt, judges and prosecutors must be free to do their jobs without the threat of violence,” Boumedouha continued. “However, the Egyptian authorities must not use such threats as a pretext for trampling upon human rights.”