Union of Sinai Tribes-documented attacks show downturn in North Sinai militant activity in recent weeks

In late November and early December, militants attempted at least two attacks in North Sinai, one in the east and one in the center of the governorate, according to the Union of Sinai Tribes, a contingent of tribes fighting against the Province of Sinai. The union said it killed two and captured two armed fighters belonging to the Islamic State-affiliated militant group in the operations.

However, the Armed Forces spokesperson, the only authority licensed to publish information about the security situation in North Sinai, has not published any corroborating information.

The few attacks recorded by the tribal union and by Islamic State-affiliated publications mostly took place in central North Sinai and the western Bir al-Abd region; areas to which the Province of Sinai refocused its operations more recently.

Little to no activity was recorded in the easternmost areas of North Sinai such as Rafah and Sheikh Zuwayed, where the group’s activities originated.

According to the union of tribes, which has fought alongside the Armed Forces, the union captured the two Province of Sinai leaders in central North Sinai in late November.

On December 1, the union announced that it had killed two militants it said were attempting to transport IEDs and other operations equipment in central North Sinai. A source close to the tribal union told Mada Masr on condition of anonymity that the operation took place in the Mangam area in the Hassana district in the center of the governorate.

The Maghara and Mangam Youth Union, which operates under the umbrella of the Union of Sinai tribes, set up an ambush, said the source, based on information from the security services to the effect that the militants were attempting to move explosive devices and weapons at night between the mountains using camels. 

Islamic State-affiliated publications claimed three attacks over the same period, one of which was reportedly an IED targeting an armored vehicle in Mushbah, another village in Hassasna. 

On December 4, the union said that its fighters prevented a suicide attack prepared by two Province of Sinai militants against Armed Forces and police checkpoints in Sheikh Zuwayed, in eastern North Sinai.

The weekly Al-Naba magazine, an Islamic State publication, also claimed that an IED was detonated near a tank stationed in the village of Qasraweit, Bir al-Abed.

No statements on operations in North Sinai have been published by the Armed Forces since August.

Three Armed Forces conscripts were reported to have died in service in North Sinai in November, with funerals held for Ahmed Rageb Bakry Shalaby from Beni Suef, Mahmoud Ahmed Abdel Rahim from Beheira, and Hisham Gamal Shams Eddin from Minya.

Three of the union’s members were also killed in minesweeping activity to clear explosives left by militant actors, the union said on November 21, without specifying the exact location.

Multiple civilian deaths have been caused over the past two years by explosive devices in North Sinai, particularly after the Province of Sinai refocused its activity toward Bir al-Abd last year and ramped up its use of explosive devices.

When the Province of Sinai withdrew from several Bir al-Abd villages they occupied for a brief period in summer 2020, residents returned to find that militants had hidden explosives in many of their homes. A local source in Bir al-Abd previously told Mada Masr that the army had then trained some civilians to detect and dismantle explosive devices. 

At least three civilians were killed more recently while trying to dismantle explosive devices, including in the Bir al-Abd village of Tofaha, the nearby village of Muqata in January, and in Barth, a village in the southernmost area of the eastern Rafah region.