Egyptian security forces on Friday (August 10th) arrested at least "six terrorists" during patrols in the Sinai province, state television reported.
The arrests came after a massive military deployment to the province on Thursday.
Security leaders had ordered the build-up following an attack that killed 16 soldiers on Sunday.
Also on Friday, Egyptian state television reported that the government reopened the Rafah border crossing -- closed since the gunmen's attack -- without saying how long the opening will last.
Meanwhile, Egypt's Interior Minister Ahmed Gamal al-Din held a meeting with Bedouin leaders late on Thursday, during which tribes agreed to help army forces restore security and close illegal smuggling tunnels.
"With the help of the people [of the Sinai], the mission will succeed," Gamal al-Din told reporters after the meeting, which was held in al-Arish.
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READER COMMENTS
سامي
2012-8-12
Al-Qaeda has built its policy from the beginning on blood and barbaric attacks which target everyone and murder a lot of the innocent and target the economies and the infrastructure of a lot of Muslim countries. It has also carried out organized campaigns to murder the innocent and loot money in the Arab and Muslim countries in order to sow the principle of fear especially after they have failed to persuade Arab and Muslim countries to collaborate and deal with this organization. Thus, al-Qaeda has started to adopt this approach. All the Arab countries which do not support and back this Organization are considered as traitors. The Organization also legitimizes the murder of the innocent and the destruction of these countries by means of booby-traps, suicide bombers and IEDs. However, the latter has had a negative impact on al-Qaeda and has been a reason behind the decline of its popularity which it obtained in the beginning. In fact, people in the Arab and Muslim countries have been deceived by the objectives and the policies of this Organization especially that all the speeches of its leaders have been calling for adopting the principle of religion and the Sunnah of Prophet Mohamed. Yet, after carrying out a lot of crimes, their popularity has declined and they have lost the support of some Arab youth who have been aware of the crimes of this Organization. Today, al-Qaeda is suffering alone and all the Arabs, Muslims and Western world hate this Organization and fight it fiercely with all strength in order to eradicate this terrorist organization wherever it existed.
صباح مهدي
2012-8-11
We wish success to the new Egyptian government in all the aspects of life that the modern Egyptian society needs. The new government must be helped, and people must cooperate with it to make it succeed. The counter-revolution has played a significant role in the deployment of the security chaos and the economic collapse, and the creation of crises in the huge Egyptian society. Many demands are placed upon the new government in all areas. In industry, giant investments must be established to create employment opportunities for the young people. There must be help from all the Egyptian and the international expertise to develop the Egyptian economy, which is the focus of the government action that will help attract investments. Stability and security are two of the most important aspects of a successful economy. So the new government must support the Ministry of Interior with all the possibilities and enable it to carry out its work and its mandated tasks in terms of maintaining the security and the stability in the country.