Special to WorldTribune.com
CAIRO — Egypt has deployed a major military force near southern Israel.
Egyptian sources said the Egyptian 3rd Army has deployed a battalion-size force in the Sinai Peninsula near Israel. They said the force, estimated at 400, was located outside the Egyptian resort of Taba.
“There is an alert of another terrorist attack in the area,” a source said.
The sources said the deployment came in response to appeals by Israel
and the United States.
The sources said Israel has determined efforts by Al Qaida-aligned insurgents in Sinai to fire surface-to-air missiles at civilian aircraft destined to land in the southern port city of Eilat.
In February 2014, Egypt’s largest insurgency group, Ansar Beit Maqdis, claimed responsibility for a suicide bombing of a tourist bus in Taba. The bus had been preparing to cross the border into Israel, and three South Koreans were killed.
The sources said Ansar has acquired Russian-origin SAMs, particularly the SA-16 and -18 systems.
The sources cited the Ansar downing of an Egyptian military AH-64 Apache attack helicopter in eastern Sinai in January 2014, in which an SA-7 missile was fired.
“The understanding is that the [Egyptian] force will remain until the
terror threat has subsided,” the source said.
Source Article from http://www.worldtribune.com/2014/06/16/amid-terror-threat-egypt-deploys-3rd-army-resort-city-near-israeli-border/
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