< Egypt's Military Struggles To Quell Growing ISIS-Linked Insurgency

STEVE INSKEEP, HOST:

Egypt faces an insurgency. Opponents of the government are becoming more violent in the Sinai Peninsula, that triangle of land at the top of the country by the Suez Canal. The militants are mostly local groups. But last year, they pledged allegiance to the self-declared Islamic State. Egypt's military crackdown on the unrest has not worked. NPR's Leila Fadel sent this report.

LEILA FADEL, BYLINE: Ahmed Abu Deraa says that in 2013, there were seven known militants from his village committing attacks in the northern Sinai Peninsula. Abu Deraa is an independent journalist in Sinai who sometimes works for NPR.

AHMED ABU DERAA: (Speaking Arabic).

FADEL: Today, he says that number has jumped from seven to about 60.

And all of them are with Sinai Province? (Speaking Arabic).

DERAA: (Speaking Arabic).

FADEL: Sinai Province is the name of the local ISIS affiliate. And all militants, he says, are gathering under that umbrella. But what they're fighting for, Abu Deraa says, isn't some grand regional cause.

DERAA: (Speaking Arabic).

FADEL: He says that most are fighting for vengeance because their brother was killed or their house was destroyed. Analysts say that's the problem with Egypt's counterterrorism policy.

OMAR ASHOUR: The crux of this policy is two things, is heavy handedness, a crackdown hard on dissent, and on all forms of suspected militant activity and to try to co-opt some of the tribal leaders to provide information, either by intimidation or by incentives.

FADEL: It's a policy that's been going on for more than a decade, says Omar Ashour, a senior lecturer of security studies at the University of Exeter. The Sinai has long been an underdeveloped region, with few services for the largely Bedouin community. It's seen a decade-long cycle of sporadic militancy and massive state crackdowns.

ASHOUR: Now you have a full-fledged, mid-level insurgency with significant support in some areas. And you're having really Egypt's most powerful, armed non-state actor ever.

FADEL: And now the militants have a regional backer through ISIS. Ashour says their arsenal has grown to include antiaircraft weaponry, mortars and small and heavy artillery. But unlike ISIS, analysts say, the militants are largely from the area and mainly targeting security forces, not civilians. Now, southern Sinai is still home to tourist resorts and Red Sea beaches, but much of northern Sinai, the focal point of the conflict, is barred to outside journalists. After simultaneous attacks on July first, killing at least 21 Egyptian soldiers, Egypt's president, Abdel Fattah el-Sisi, was defiant. He traveled to Sinai and addressed the nation.

(SOUNDBITE OF SPEECH)

ABDEL FATTAH EL-SISI: (Speaking Arabic).

FADEL: He declared it not just under control but completely stable. The government is calling this a war on terror. It includes the Sinai unrest among the many things they blame on the now outlawed Muslim Brotherhood movement. Sherif Mohy el-Din is a researcher on Sinai for the Egyptian Initiative for Personal Rights. He says Sinai won't be pacified through military might alone.

SHERIF MOHY EL-DIN: It creates more terrorists. So I think rather than just using the security policy, we should make it more social. We should make it pro-human rights.

FADEL: Residents said by phone they fled the worst areas because of the military strikes and lack of water and electricity.

UNIDENTIFIED WOMAN: (Speaking Arabic).

FADEL: One woman who asked not to be named for fear of retribution says the airstrikes frequently hit civilian homes. She's among thousands who fled the area of the worst fighting. Her father was injured when their home was hit earlier this month. Leila Fadel, NPR News, Cairo.

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