Bloody ISIS campaign spills across region, into Egypt
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Security officials and observers in Egypt have described the apparently coordinated attacks in the northern Sinai as unprecedented.
Recent ISIS Attack Will Generate New Recruits
Newswise (press release)-Jul 1, 2015
Newswise (press release)-Jul 1, 2015
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Bloody ISIS campaign spills across region, into Egypt
ISIS claims attacks on security forces in Sinai 02:20
Story highlights
- ISIS claimed responsibility for attacks in Egypt, Tunisia and Kuwait in the past week
- The influence of the Sunni extremist group is spreading across the Middle East and North Africa
(CNN)The
Islamic State in Iraq and Syria earned its brutal reputation as it
spread violence and terror across those two war-torn countries.
But
in an apparent expansion of its reach, it has, in just the past week,
claimed responsibility for a roll call of attacks in other countries:
the deadly bombing of a mosque in Kuwait last Friday, the horrific beachfront killings in Tunisia the same day and now coordinated military attacks in Egypt.
ISIS apparently launched simultaneous attacks Wednesday on Egyptian military checkpoints, reportedly killing 17 Egyptian soldiers and injuring 30 others.
The wave of violence comes after a spokesman for the Sunni extremist group urged followers to step up attacks
during the Muslim holy month of Ramadan. And it shows how ISIS'
tentacles are reaching out from Yemen on the southern tip of the Arabian
Peninsula across the Gulf states to Tunisia in North Africa.
Egypt: Deadly attacks in Sinai
ISIS claimed responsibility for Wednesday's attacks in the restive Sinai province in statements posted on Twitter.
The
confrontations between ISIS militants and Egyptian troops left at least
100 jihadis dead, the Egyptian military reported on its official
Facebook page Wednesday.
Egyptian
military spokesman Brig. Gen. Mohamed Samir told CNN Thursday that the
situation in the Sinai was now "100% under control." He also said that
the Muslim Brotherhood -- banned as a terrorist organization in Egypt --
was "behind all of this."
Map: Sinai Peninsula
Security
officials and observers in Egypt have described the apparently
coordinated attacks in the northern Sinai as unprecedented. The Egyptian
military said at least 300 militants launched the offensive, using car
bombs and different kinds of weapons.
The
ISIS-affiliated State of Sinai group claimed it attacked more than 15
checkpoints and had used at least three suicide bombers. The assault was
focused on a town close to the Gaza border, with residents there caught
in the crossfire.
The coordinated
attack has raised concerns of a new chapter in an insurgency that the
Egyptian military has been struggling to contain in the Sinai for the
past couple of years.
The Sinai borders
the Mediterranean Sea to the north and Israel to the east. It is the
only part of Egypt that lies in Asia rather than Africa.
Tunisia: Beachfront massacre
Terrorist attack in Tunisia 14 photos
ISIS has said it's behind the bloody attack on foreign tourists in the Tunisian coastal town of Sousse in which 38 people died.
Thirty of the people killed in
the massacre at a beachfront hotel last week are UK citizens,
authorities said Thursday, marking the worst terror attack against
Britons in a decade.
The gunman
responsible trained with the people who carried out an attack on the
Bardo Museum in Tunis in March, Tunisian authorities said. ISIS has also
claimed responsibility for that attack.
Kuwait: Shia mosque bombing
Twenty-seven worshippers lost their lives and more than 200 were injured when a bomb ripped through
the Shia-affiliated Al-Sadiq mosque during Friday prayers. ISIS claimed
responsibility for what was the worst terror attack Kuwait has seen in
many years.
Authorities say they've
arrested a number of suspects. But beyond the immediate manhunt looms
the issue of preventing such attacks in the future and ensuring that
ISIS, which is wreaking havoc in neighboring Iraq, doesn't do the same
in Kuwait.
The choice of target is
significant, CNN terrorism analyst Paul Cruickshank said, because the
group has been trying to increase sectarian tensions by provoking Shia
reprisals against Sunnis.
It also
wants to force Gulf states to protect Shia minorities and by forcing
them into uncomfortable political situations, to de-legitimize those
regimes, he added.
Yemen: Attacks in Sanaa
ISIS
has claimed responsibility for a number of bombings in the Yemeni
capital, Sanaa, in the past month. One this week targeted a group of
mourners, including women and children, while others have targeted mosques associated with the Shiite Houthis.
Yemen
has for months been torn by fighting between the rebel Houthi
militiamen and government forces loyal to President Abdu Rabu Mansour
Hadi, who fled Sanaa in March as the Houthis seized control of the city.
A coalition led by Saudi Arabia has launched airstrikes against the
Houthi rebels in a bid to counteract what it sees as Iranian influence
in the region. Shia-majority Iran denies supporting the Houthi rebels.
Saudi Arabia: More mosques targeted
ISIS claimed to be behind two mosque attacks in Saudi Arabia in May, the first on the Imam Ali mosque in the village of Qudayh and the second on the Imam Hussein mosque in a predominantly Shiite neighborhood of Dammam, a coastal city.
Dammam
is one of the few Shiite population centers in a country in which 85%
to 90% of citizens are Sunni, the other major Islamic sect.
Iraq: ISIS holds swath of country
Since
storming Mosul just over a year ago and declaring an Islamic caliphate
across parts of Syria and Iraq, ISIS has extended its reach across a
swath of the embattled country.
Despite
the efforts of Iraq's armed forces and Kurdish Peshmerga fighters,
backed by daily airstrikes from a U.S.-led international coalition, the
Sunni extremists continue to control vast areas and commit new
atrocities.
A major blow came in May, when Iraqi security forces lost the key city of Ramadi in the western province of Anbar to ISIS.
Syria: Raqqa becomes ISIS capital
Syria,
gripped by conflict for more than four years, has been the heartland
for ISIS' fighters, with the city of Raqqa their self-declared capital.
Kurdish
forces in the north of the country, along with Syrian opposition groups
in the south, have made some recent gains against ISIS. But ISIS has
been quick to strike back elsewhere and experts say its withdrawals in some places may be strategic, rather than a sign it is weakening.
Libya: Christians massacred
ISIS first established a stronghold around Derna in the east of the country last fall. Since then, it has expanded its reach to Sirte, the final major stronghold of Moammar Gadhafi loyalists in the Libyan civil war.
In
April, ISIS claimed to have executed two groups of prisoners, believed
to be Ethiopian Christians, in two locations in Libya. That came two
months after the extremist group released a video of 21 Coptic
Christians from Egypt being executed on a Libyan beach. It's also
attacked the Libyan military in the south of the country.
Analysts
worry that ISIS' growing presence, coupled with the country's lack of
government and porous borders, make it a particular threat to regional
stability.
Tunisian authorities have
said it's likely the Sousse gunman had a connection to a Libyan
terrorist organization and spent time in Libya.
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