The army has rejected the New York Times Saturday report that Israel secretly assists with its gunships, unmarked helicopters and drones in the fight against insurgency in Northern Sinai where Egyptian armed forced have been trying to overcome years of terrorist groups’ activities. “Only the Egyptian army is authorized to and does conduct military operations in specific areas in northern Sinai, in cooperation with the civilian police,” Egyptian military spokesperson Tamer al-Rifa told Russia’s Sputnik news agency. The NYT Saturday indicated that Egyptian President Fattah al-Sisi has given a go-ahead to Israel to strike jihadist positions in the Peninsula near the Israeli border. The airstrikes made successful impacts as jihadists according to the paper turned their guns and bombs against soft targets like mosques and churches. Israel’s covert operations according to the paper are known to US, European and Russian officials.

Source: The North Africa Journal February 05, 2018 15:00 UTC