Interviews with residents of North Sinai and reviews of IS videos suggest the group's local affiliate, known as Sinai Province, is seeking to impose its hardline interpretation of Islam on the local populace for the first time. An examination of what's happening in North Sinai, a region rarely accessible by reporters, shows the strategy is scoring some success. She was one of two female teachers who told Reuters that Islamic State fighters had boarded their buses. Ibrahim al-Tadawy, the top Education Ministry official in North Sinai, said teachers were travelling as normal in ministry-organised buses from Arish to schools in Rafah. "North Sinai is secure and stable and the educational process is taking place as usual," he told Reuters by telephone.

Source: Egypt Independent May 02, 2017 12:45 UTC