TERRORIST GROUP CARRIED OUT AMBUSH
by Sharon Rondeau
(Sep. 11, 2017) — In a statement on Monday, the U.S. State Department strongly condemned an attack on a police convoy in the area in the Sinai Peninsula for which the terrorist group ISIS, also known as the “Islamic State,” claimed responsibility.
Major news services are reporting that 18 officers are dead and seven injured as a result of the “ambush”-style attack, which involved a vehicle headed into the convoy and the destruction of several vehicles.
ISIS has reportedly been attempting to gain control of the northern Sinai Peninsula. “In recent years there has also been a wave of attacks, mainly targeting security forces, blamed on a splinter faction of Mr Morsi’s Muslim Brotherhood group,” the AP reported, referring to Egypt’s ousted leader, Mohamed Morsi.
Reuters reported that the injured are both police and medical personnel.
The State Department’s press release reads as follows:
The United States strongly condemns the terrorist attack on a security convoy in Egypt today that left at least 18 dead and others injured. We express our profound condolences to the families and friends of the victims and our wishes for a speedy recovery for those hurt in the attack.
We will continue to stand with Egypt as it confronts the threat from terrorism.
Early in his presidency, Donald Trump met with Egypt’s current president, Abdel Fattah Al-Sisi, at the White House and during his first overseas trip to Saudi Arabia, where dozens of Muslim-majority countries’ leaders gathered with the common interest of eradicating Islamic terrorism.
Trump has pledged to “destroy” the barbaric organization which has claimed thousands of lives in the Middle East since 2014.