Sunday’s horrific terrorist attacks on Coptic churches in Tanta and Alexandria during Palm Sunday services, in which dozens have been killed and many more injured, should convince the Egyptian military to update its strategy against jihadis based in the Sinai Peninsula. While these aren’t the first bombings for which the Islamic State’s (ISIS) Sinai-based branch has claimed responsibility, the simultaneity of Sunday’s dual attacks suggests that, in recent months, the jihadis have become more capable, more lethal, and better connected beyond their base in northern Sinai. Yet, unfortunately, Egypt’s internal political dynamics make it unlikely that the Egyptian military will adopt a more effective strategy against ISIS in Sinai anytime soon.
Cairo has considered itself at war with terrorism since July 2013, when the Egyptian military, led by then-Defense Minister Abdel Fatah al-Sisi, responded to mass protests by removing the country’s first democratically elected president, Muslim Brotherhood leader Mohamed Morsi. While Cairo’s most prominent target in this war is the Brotherhood, whose cadres have been implicated in low-profile attacks on security forces and infrastructure, the Egyptian military also began a major operation against jihadis in northern Sinai in September 2013.
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