Militants attack Egypt border post from Libya

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Gunmen killed at least 20 Egyptian troops on the Libyan border—amid reports that President Sisi is backing rogue military operations against Islamists in Benghazi.

Gunmen killed at least 20 Egyptian military border guards near the frontier with Libya in a July 19 raid. An army spokesman said the attackers were "terrorists"—the term Egyptian authorities use for Islamist militants. A weapons storage facility was reportedly blown up by a rocket-propelled grenade during the attack, which took place in Wadi al-Gadid governorate, bordering Libya and Sudan. At least two militants were reportedly killed in the clash. (Radio Australia [6], July 20) The attack comes three weeks after Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi flew to Algiers for a meeting with his Algerian counterpart Abdelaziz Bouteflika. Commentators in the region say the meeting was intended to coordinate support for Libyan Gen. Khalifa Haftar [7], who has launched a unilateral offensive on Islamist militants in Benghazi. (Middle East Monitor [8], June 27)

A few days before he was elected in May, al-Sisi made a little-publicized visit to tribesmen living along the border with Libya, in an apparent effort to groom them as a proxy force to help police the border against Islamist infiltration. "Sisi came to us and asked us to stand behind the security forces and army to help them to control the border because what is happening in Libya poses a grave danger to Egypt," tribal chief Mohamed al-Raghi told a reporter. (Reuters [9], July 13)