|
Militants attack MFO peacekeeper headquarters in Sinai, four wounded
 Four members of the Multinational Force & Observers (MFO) in the Sinai Peninsula were wounded on Friday, after dozens of Bedouin militants attacked their headquarters in northern Sinai. According to reports, an angry mob broke down the wall of the base and set vehicles and tools alight.The peacekeepers inside the camp, located in the al Gura area of northern Sinai, exchanged fire with the assailants, according to witnesses. Israel's Channel Two reported that the militants included Salafi extremists. Soroka Medical Center, Beer Sheva said that two of the wounded were being transferred to the hospital in southern Israel for treatment. The Israel Defense Forces did not confirm the report. It was unclear whether the attacks were linked to the protests spreading across the Muslim world over a film deemed as insulting the Prophet Mohammed. Locals in the area said the attack was apparently a backlash to the film, however, an Egyptian security official denied the claim. "The attackers are unknown and the cause of the assault is not immediately clear," the official told dpa on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to speak to the media. The Sinai attack was at the Multinational Force & Observers (MFO)'s North Camp base in the north of the peninsula. In the last year, the MFO in the Sinai has suffered from repeated attacks on its bases and forces. This has included stone throwing and the blocking of their envoys. Around 1,000 peacekeepers, under U.S. command, are positioned in Sinai to monitor Egyptian-Israeli border under a 1979 peace treaty between the two countries. Last month, Egypt's President Mohammed Morsi deposed both chief of staff Sami Enan and Defense Minister Gen. Hussein Tantawi following the attack at the Israeli border crossing at Kerem Shalom, in which 17 Egyptian policemen were killed. After the attack, the Egyptian army carried out a wide campaign to eradicate terrorist organizations in the Sinai peninsula, although according to reports in Egypt, the campaign was stopped after talks between Cairo and local Bedouin leaders. Following the unrest sweeping the Muslim world over the past four days, Morsi said in a televised speech on Friday morning that it is part of the responsibility of Muslims to protect diplomats and foreign embassies located in their countries. Posted by: DarthVader 2012-09-14 |
| http://www.rantburg.com/poparticle.php?ID=352002 |