Mansi: Legend of 103rd Thunderbolt Forces in Sinai
The life of a brave hero who sacrificed his life in order to
protect his homeland and his soldiers from the brutality of ISIS is being
portrayed in the Egyptian drama series “El-Ekhteyar” (The Choice), starring
Amir Karara, who plays the role of Colonel Ahmed Saber Mansi.
The martyr Mansi
The martyr Ahmed Saber Mansi was born in 1977 in Minya
al-Qamh, Sharqeya governorate, northeast of Cairo. He graduated from the
Military Academy and then worked as an officer in the Thunderbolt Forces.
Mansi had served for a long time in the Special Forces Task
Force Unit 999, which is the most powerful unit in Egypt’s Thunderbolt Forces.
In 2001, he joined the first expeditionary special forces SEAL team and then
traveled to the United States for training in 2006.
Mansi obtained a master’s degree in military science from
the Command and Staff College, and he took over as commander of the 103rd
Sa’ka (Thunderbolt) Forces Battalion in Sinai after the martyrdom of the
battalion’s former commander, Colonel Rami Hassanein, in October 2016.
Mansi’s martyrdom in Burth ambush
In July 2017, the martyr Mansi was carrying out an operation
to combat terrorist and takfirist activity in the Egyptian cities of Rafah and
Sheikh Zuweid. At dawn on July 7, the area of Burth Square was ambushed and a
car bomb detonated.
Mansi and his men did not hesitate to defend the land, and
they confronted the takfirist elements valiantly. However, the car bomb was
heavily laden and exploded near Burth Square. Then a number of four-wheel drive
vehicles came loaded with dozens of terrorists, completely surrounding the
security outpost, and they clashed with the Egyptian forces.
Nevertheless, Mansi did not surrender. In his last words
during the saga, he told his colleagues in a strong voice that he would not be
broken.
“It could be my last moment in the world. We are being
attacked in Burth by a group of ISIS takfirists. They entered with a number of
car bombs… I and four soldiers are still alive, still holding onto the land for
the sake of our martyred colleagues, whom we will not leave. And we will not
leave any wounded, and we will not leave this land with any martyrs or wounded.
We will obtain their rights or we will die like them,” Mansi said.
These were not just words uttered by Colonel Ahmed Saber
Mansi. Rather, they came from a truthful heart, and he did not retreat from
defending his land and the soldiers he led. Instead, he continued to fight from
the roof of the besieged building and fired at terrorist elements to defend his
station until a 54-mm caliber bullet meant for light-armored vehicles took his
life as he moved positions. The “Legendary Mansi” was martyred on July 7, 2017.
