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How Egypt’s Policies Are Driving Support for ISIS in the Sinai

Posted: November 30th, 2017

The Friday prayer massacre of more than 300 worshipers at a Sinai was a departure for the local Islamic State affiliate in scale, but not in targets – they’ve hit Sufi Muslims before. The group’s continued growth in the Sinai points to decades of neglect by the Egyptian government, combined with a vicious crackdown against ISIS that has severely impacted civilians in the process.

Wilayat Sinai, or Sinai Province, hasn’t claimed the operation yet, but their fingerprints are all over the scene: the nature of the target, the location and the deadly force employed. Since pledging allegiance to ISIS in 2014, the group has focused its firepower on security forces but also on Copts and Sufi Muslims, like those hit last Friday. The group’s target last week, the Al-Rawda Mosque, is a Sufi place of worship, located in the territories of the pro-military al-Sawarka tribe.

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