The Islamic State's Targeting Strategy in Egypt

The Islamic State's Targeting Strategy in Egypt

The Egyptian government’s state of alert, under which dozens of activists were arrested ahead of the fifth anniversary of the Egyptian revolution, did not prevent militants from the Islamic State group in Sinai from claiming the lives of several policemen and soldiers across the country’s provinces. The violence underlines the Egyptian state’s continuing struggle to control Islamic State-related activity in the country, particularly in the Sinai Peninsula, where the group’s Egyptian branch is based and where it is most active. Recent attacks by Islamic State show two clear trends: attacks on the security services and the targeting of tourists and the tourism industry. The Egyptian economy is flailing, with foreign investment also diminishing as insurgencies gain ground.http://www.jamestown.org/programs/tm/single/?tx_ttnews[tt_news]=45066&tx_ttnews[backPid]=26&cHash=849cb7d8a3f04a1d7a12c0c65d2f8c6d#.VrglSCmGhRk