[AlAhram] While the number of terrorist attacks dramatically decreased in recent years, terrorist tactics have changed, and these organizations remain a vivid threat to national security.For several years, Egypt has been the victim of one of the fiercest waves of terrorism in its contemporary history. It began in August 2012 with the "Ramadan massacre" in Rafah, claiming the lives of 16 soldiers, and reached its highest peak in 2015, which experienced the most terrorist attacks (594) in any single year from 2013 to 2017. In January 2015, alone, there were 124 armed attacks. The frequency declined slightly to 105 in February and then climbed to the highest peak for that year in March, with 125 attacks. The rate gradually began to decline in April (72 attacks) and May (63), and then dropped dramatically to 23 in June. In July 2015, the number of attacks rose again to 41 before dropping, again, to 27 in August. The frequency declined again in autumn, reaching the lowest point for that year in November with only five attacks, although it would rise again slightly in December to nine.
As of the beginning of 2016, the frequency of terrorist attacks began to decline considerably compared to 2015. Also, with the decrease in attacks in the Nile Valley and Delta, most attacks were confined to Sinai. But the end of 2016 and the beginning of 2017 brought a quantitative shift in terrorist tactics and strategies, as was manifested in both the nature of the targets selected and the weapons used in the attacks. We can break down the process in terms of tactics and personnel as follows.