Egypt launches airstrikes in Sinai in response to attacks

Egypt launched airstrikes and deployed ground forces in the Sinai region bordering Israel in response to a series of attacks on security checkpoints. The strikes appear to be the largest operation since Egypt’s war with Israel in 1973. The violence began on Sunday when 35 gunmen stormed a checkpoint, killing 16 soldiers. The Egyptian government has blamed Islamist militants for the attacks and said that Palestinians played some role. The raids were prompted early Wednesday after a series of seemingly coordinated assaults on seven government checkpoints and a military cement factory, during which at least two people were injured. The military offensive has targeted the village of al-Toumah where the government believed many of the gunmen had fled. Egyptian officials reported 20 militants were killed, although this has not been confirmed. Other strikes were reported in Arish, Gabal al-Halal, Rafah, and Sheikh Zuwaid. The situation is the first real crisis for Egypt’s recently elected President Mohamed Morsi and is exacerbating divides between the Muslim Brotherhood and secularists, particularly military leaders. Morsi faced criticism after protests caused him to cancel plans to attend Tuesday’s funeral for the soldiers killed on Sunday.

Syria

Syrian government troops have launched an offensive, forcing opposition fighters to pull back from key positions in the Salahedinne district of Aleppo. According to opposition commander Abu Mohammed of the Shahbaa Brigade, opposition forces were running out of ammunition. Syrian state television reported that the army had "cleaned" Salahedinne of "terrorists." Conversely, the Free Syria Army and the opposition Syrian Revolution General Commission denied they had abandoned Salahedinne, saying they had only left one building. Amnesty International has released satellite images of fighting in Aleppo and has warned that government troops and opposition fighters could be held accountable for civilian causalities in the conflict. Meanwhile, Iran’s Foreign Minister Ali Akbar Salehi said that some of the 48 Iranians abducted over the weekend by opposition forces were retired Revolutionary Guards and soldiers but maintains they were "honest pilgrims" traveling in Syria for religious purposes. The opposition has accused the Iranians of conducting surveillance for the Syrian government. The rebel group "Hawks Special Operations Battalion" has claimed to have killed Russian General Vladimir Petrovich Kochyev, said to be a military advisor to government forces. Russia has denied the claim with some sources saying the general is on vacation, and others reporting he is in Moscow.

Headlines  

• Bahrain has charged 15 policemen for abusing medics detained for treating wounded protesters during the February 2011 uprising after recommendations from an independent commission.
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Arguments & Analysis

‘A Need for Justice‘ (Michael Wahid Hanna, Cairo Review of Global Affairs)

"The incoherent and problematic verdicts in the case against former President Hosni Mubarak and his sons and associates are an important measure of Egypt’s troubled and chaotic transition. How a nation in transition accounts for past injustices is a telling indicator of the overall health of transition. Egypt has changed in tangible and consequential ways. Yet, the initial promise and the sense of transformational possibility that marked the fall of Mubarak is now something of a distant memory. The Mubarak trial encapsulates many of the flaws that have undermined the prospects for fundamental change in Egypt."

‘Where Syria’s War May Lead‘ (Jon Lee Anderson, The New Yorker)

"What does all of this side-taking mean? It means that whatever else happens inside Syria-and it will be ugly, for sure, and involve a great deal more killing-there is also an international showdown taking place. In the end, Syria may only turn out to be a skirmish rather than a wider conflict, as some fear. But it seems possible that Syria is destined to be a historic turning point. Whichever way it goes, post-Syria, we may well be speaking openly about a new Cold War, with the international battle lines drawn roughly as they are today around Syria, and with new proxy conflicts yet to come."

–By Jennifer Parker and Mary Casey