Arish to celebrate end of terrorism … Implications

Speaking on the occasion of Egyptian Police Day on Monday (January 23), Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi unveiled a new phase for Sinai.

This phase, he said, is dawning in this Egyptian territory after the elimination of terrorism in it.

President Sisi said Sinai has become completely safe, highlighting the success of the comprehensive security operation launched in 2018.

The operation aimed to free Sinai from terrorist groups.

The president's speech on this occasion carried a lot of connotations.

Major celebrations

"No one can take land, control it, or defeat a people," President Sisi said.

He added that the North Sinai city of al-Arish witnessed the landing of a plane carrying the prime minister and a host of ministers, for the first time in eight years.

The president confirmed the ability of the Egyptian state to defend its territories and control them.

"The Egyptian state can never abdicate its sovereignty, even over an inch of its territory," the Egyptian leader said.

Triangle of terror

The messages of the Egyptian president in this framework carry a set of connotations, including the elimination of the last side in the triangle of terrorism.

This last side represented the armed groups in Sinai. The two remaining sides of the triangle are the Muslim Brotherhood and its armed militias, such as Hasm and the Revolution's Brigades.

These two militias, in particular, had their cells in different governorates. However, they underwent marked collapse after security services succeeded in completely undermining their activity during the past years.

After the elimination of these two sides, the side of terrorism in Sinai remained. It represented one of the biggest gatherings of active terrorist groups, headed by the terrorist Daesh Organization which considered Sinai an important stronghold after Syria, Iraq and Nigeria.

This was the reality of the organization in Sinai before the launch of the comprehensive operation in this Egyptian territory in 2018.

The comprehensive operation, carried out by the armed forces and police, managed to clear all terrorist hotbeds in Sinai.

The army issued several official statements in the past, in which it showed the size of the groups that were tampering with Sinai security.

Features of planned celebration

President Sisi mentioned general information about the planned celebration in al-Arish.

He said it would be a memorable one, noting that the celebration will also take place in other Sinai cities that suffered from terrorism in the past years, including Rafah and Sheikh Zuweid.

Sinai's development

It was not only the security operations that the Egyptian state relied on to establish security and stability in Sinai.

The operations were also accompanied by numerous efforts to establish social security through development projects that the state paid special attention to through the construction of tunnels and dams under the Suez Canal, to contribute to the agricultural and industrial development of Sinai.

The state also established new urban communities and developed slums.

These efforts included the establishment of the new city of Rafah on an area of 535 acres. The city is constructed in a modern style to accommodate a large number of residents.