ISIS missile strike on El-Arish airport misses Egyptian ministers

El Arish airports was struck by an ISIS missile Tuesday, Dec. 19, after two Egyptian ministers had landed there. Neither was harmed, but an unknown number of officers were killed or injured.
Defense Minister Sedki Sobhy and Minister of Interior Affairs Magdy Abdel-Ghaffar had arrived for an inspection of the security situation in northern Sinai, after the most brutal Islamic State attack in modern Egyptian history. The terrorist attack at the al-Rawdi Sufi mosque on Nov. 24 during Friday prayers claimed 309 lives, including 24 children, and injured 128. President Abdel Fattah El Sisi then ordered the Ministers of Defense and Interior to eliminate armed activity in northern Sinai within three months.

The attack Tuesday was the closest ISIS’ Sinai affiliate had ever come to threatening the lives of Egyptian ministers. Neither was hurt, but it was a close shave. Some of the officers accompanying them are believed to have been killed or injured; a number of aircraft on the runways of the military airport were damaged, including a helicopter which was wrecked and may have carried the two ministers to El Arish. ISIS later claimed the airport attack. An official statement later said that “security forces have dealt with the source of fire and secured the surrounding area.”

DEBKAfile’s military sources note that, despite Egypt’s official efforts to play down the impact of the Sinai jihadists’ airport strike, it is evident that they were armed with prior intelligence about the arrival time in El Arish of the two Egyptian ministers in charge of the war on Islamist terror. It had most likely come from an informer – either on the airport staff or employed in the surrounding facilities. The ISIS affiliate, although its missile missed the two ministers, managed to reach inside the military airport, firing it from a site in the surrounding dunes.

The next day, the Egyptian president called a meeting with the defense and interior ministers for a report on the airport attack. Presidential spokesman Bassam Rady said that they also reported on”the measures and procedures put in place for fighting terrorism and establishing security and stability in northern Sinai, after checking on the forces and security conditions there.”

 

 

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18 thoughts on “ISIS missile strike on El-Arish airport misses Egyptian ministers

  • Dec 20, 2017 @ 19:22 at 19:22
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    The swine-eating muslims never contributed anything of value to the world – except murdering other swine-earing muslims.

    • Dec 20, 2017 @ 19:49 at 19:49
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      What is the value of such a stupid, callous remark? Debka, please can you develop some kind of comment moderation facility, or this will descend like most news comment sections into useless, sullen vitriol. Please, not to let Russian or other trolls pretend to be casually abusive Jews, nor to let anyone be so offensive anyway.

    • Dec 20, 2017 @ 21:41 at 21:41
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      Well said!

  • Dec 20, 2017 @ 22:35 at 22:35
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    I dream of Egyptian army carpet bombing Gaza, I promisse I will be good, I will listen to my parents, I’ll have only best grades, please Santa, please, bring me this!

    • Dec 20, 2017 @ 22:41 at 22:41
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      Nick Balfour, your poor use of the English language shows you up. So does your name. Russian trolls, Debka.

      • Dec 20, 2017 @ 23:29 at 23:29
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        Dom- your replies to Dom show you up. No one will pay attention to you from here on. You might as well go somewhere else. The hatreds between Muslims are Israel’s best friend. Iran will soon be carpet bombing Saudi Arabia and Egypt will attack Gaza which spreads death and hatred for the Egyptians.

  • Dec 20, 2017 @ 23:36 at 23:36
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    Debka: Your new format is great and I am thinking of becoming a subscriber to show my support for your work. But your website is ruined by foolish and ignorant trolls making obscene comments. Please moderate these comments frequently to encourage profitable discussion. This will increase your page views and subscription list substantially. Eventually you could move to a subscribers only rule for making comments. If you would like volunteers to moderate comments I am willing to put my name forward. I live in Australia so I can moderate comments when you are asleep in Israel. We would also need some moderators in the US to give us 24 hour round the globe coverage and allow us to remove offensive comments within minutes of them appearing. If you answer this comment positively I will privately send to you my real name and my email address. I am a gentile who is a strong admirer and supporter of the Jewish people and of Israel. I am secular. I am not one of those Christian bible prophecy freaks who spam these comment pages.

    • Dec 21, 2017 @ 0:34 at 0:34
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      Freedom of speech prevails.
      What we are reading is what has been allowed through,

    • Dec 21, 2017 @ 2:04 at 2:04
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      ^this slobbering idolatrous jew lover wants to help…

  • Dec 21, 2017 @ 0:42 at 0:42
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    I agree. I wondered if anyone at Debka cares about its warning regarding incitement, libelous or offensive language. You are always the first site that I go to first thing in the morning, but I am turned off on Debka allowing ugly comments that serve no one any good except the writer/s unloading their hatred. Better that they should seek help from a licensed psychologist. It is hard enough to read the ugly things that people are doing to people. Who needs or wants the ugly comments about the ugly things?

  • Dec 21, 2017 @ 3:03 at 3:03
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    I agree with myself, because I am completely right, and above all because I am!
    Stay tunned, I’ll soon deliver the 10 Debka commandments.
    You shall agree to be obedient and do all that I myself have said.

    • Dec 21, 2017 @ 8:03 at 8:03
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      Lol

  • Dec 21, 2017 @ 4:17 at 4:17
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    Those damned ISIS-realis. All they do is terrorize the world

    • Dec 22, 2017 @ 1:06 at 1:06
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      go back to shagging goats, walid. and leave the thinking to the grownups.

  • Dec 21, 2017 @ 5:33 at 5:33
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    Some day, Egypt and Israel will enjoy a real true peace.

    Not there yet.

    • Dec 21, 2017 @ 15:43 at 15:43
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      Yes when the Messiah appears, but after Armageddon wipes out the Northern Confederacy. Ezekiel 38 & 39.

  • Dec 21, 2017 @ 9:26 at 9:26
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    are these racist comments belongs to israelis?
    that explains a lot

    • Dec 22, 2017 @ 1:03 at 1:03
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      no leroy, they “belongs” (sic) to ignorant joo-baiting trolls like you.

Comments are closed.