Sisi creates unified military command to combat terrorism in Egypt's Sinai

The president appoints General Osama Roshdy Askar to lead army counter-terrorism efforts east of the Suez Canal

Ahram Online , Saturday 31 Jan 2015

Send

File Photo: Egypt's Supreme Council of the Armed forces with President Abdel Fattah El-Sisi standing a moment of silence for the 31 martyrs of Sinai ahead of their meeting on October 25, 2014 (Photo: Courtesy of SCAF Facebook page)

Egypt paid the price for removing 'terrorist group' at its strongest: Sisi

Egypt's President Sisi holds meeting with SCAF to discuss North Sinai attacks

Thousands mourn soldiers killed in Sinai attacks

ElBaradei tweets Quranic verse in response to Sinai attacks

Egyptian President Abdel-Fattah El-Sisi issued a decree on Saturday to create a unified military command for the east of the Suez Canal to combat terrorism two days after a series of militant attacks killed at least 30 people in the restive Sinai peninsula.

The new unified command structure will be led by General Osama Roshdy Askar. lt will guide counter-terrorism activities of the Second and Third army.

The decision comes as the president held a meeting with the Supreme Council of the Armed Forces (SCAF).

Askar was promoted to lieutenant-general on Saturday as he assumes his new responsibilities.

Askar will continue to serve in his current capacity as commander of the Third Army, which is overseas for Suez and South Sinai.

General Mohamed El-Shahat is the commander of the second army, which overseas North Sinai and a number of Delta governorates.

Askar was born in 1957 in the governorate of Daqahlia in the Nile Delta.

He graduated from the military school in 1970 and joined the infantry division.

He holds an masters degree in military sciences and is married with three children.

Scores of Egyptian soldiers were killed in coordinated militant attacks in North Sinai on Thursday night. An exact death toll has not been confirmed by military officials, but media reports suggest at least 30 died in the attacks, including a number of civilians.

Speaking about the death toll, Tariq Khater, undersecretary for North Sinai in the health ministry, told Ahram Online that only the military can issue an official death toll.

Search Keywords:

Ahram Online | Sinai

Short link:

Name

Comment's Title

Comment

Ahram Online welcomes readers' comments on all issues covered by the site, along with any criticisms and/or corrections. Readers are asked to limit their feedback to a maximum of 1000 characters (roughly 50 words). All comments/criticisms will, however, be subject to the following code

We will not publish comments which contain rude or abusive language, libelous statements, slander and personal attacks against any person/s.
We will not publish comments which contain racist remarks or any kind of racial or religious incitement against any group of people, in Egypt or outside it.
We welcome criticism of our reports and articles but we will not publish personal attacks, slander or fabrications directed against our reporters and contributing writers.
We reserve the right to correct, when at all possible, obvious errors in spelling and grammar. However, due to time and staffing constraints such corrections will not be made across the board or on a regular basis.

Hillary Williams, Tulsa, Oklahoma- USA

31-01-2015 06:09pm

352-

1033+

Talk to them

Sissi is a gigantic fiasco...He is destroying Egypt, morphing it into a failed state. And most Egyptians are frightened by the regime...or too ignorant to discover its evilness.

Name

Comment's Title

Comment

Hans Freund, Germany

31-01-2015 06:05pm

342-

It won't work-

These people are dedicated to their cause, which is Islam and justice. They love to die for their cause. Egyptian forces are too subdued, too poor, too unprofessional to fight these well-trained, well-financed, and well-motivated fighters.

Name

Comment's Title

Comment

Readers Picks