Thread by @Oded121351

#Egypt- 2 militants conducted drive-by shooting targeting police checkpoint inside the city of #Ismailia, al-Salam District, late last night, killing 3 policemen & wounding 13 others. 1 of the militants was killed in subsequent clashes

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This is a very significant incident. The last successful militant attack by an organization in Mainland #Egypt was November 2019 and that was Hasam. #ISIS's (likely culprit of recent attack) latest attack in the mainland was February 2019 (!)

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Sure, there is the seemingly mitigating circumstances of #Ismailia being on the Suez Canal and therefore very close to Wilayat #Sinai's AO, but it's not as simple as that

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Assuming that it is in fact #ISIS, this is the culmination (so far) of their westward expansion/migration out of the triangle area of North #Sinai, which most prominently came to light in the August 2020 assault and brief takeover of Bir al-Abd...

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...and more recently manifested in a lot of offensive activity in the #Galabana area (which notably was a partially active #ISIS AO long before)

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Seemingly, #Ismailia is just a hop skip and jump away from #Galabana (~40km aerial) so it's expected that many will downplay the incident (primarily the Egyptian government)...

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...but the #Suez Canal and all passages in and especially out of #Sinai are subjected to the most security anywhere in Egypt because of the canal's strategic values that cannot be overstated and of course #ISIS presence and activity in #Sinai

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This again exposes the weaknesses/gaps in Egyptian security that are sometimes brought to light, despite eventually objectively achieved good results in its counter-militancy campaign both in Sinai & the mainland (without addressing the means it used, how long it took, etc)

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Point being, I continue to maintain that the primary reason Wilayat #Sinai did not yet attack the canal itself is primarily lack of desire (for now) and not lack of capabilities (which they maintained at different levels constantly pretty much since their formation in 2014)

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#Egypt- video purportedly showing the attack in #Ismailia.
I assume the shooters are the militants, which if authentic, shows it was actually an ambush rather than a drive-by. But the video raises many questions (irrespective of the shooters' identity)...

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For instance- the shooters in plain clothes, in a well-lit corner, in a shooting stance is quite the audacity.
They have the discipline to not target any vehicle for long time but 1 specifically (that's non descript) but from ineffective distance? and then chase it by foot?

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Even if the shooters are in fact police and have ambushed this specific vehicle - the questions/issues stand. Their choice of position and identification, but most important - why target the vehicle from a clearly ineffective range after a seemingly successful ambush...

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#Egypt- as expected, #ISIS claimed responsibility for the #Ismailia attack (notably, though not at all surprising, by Wilayat #Sinai and not the long unheard from "Misr")

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