Egypt steps up strikes in Libya following Coptic bus attack
The recent terrorist attack that killed 26 Copts in southern Egypt pushed the army to launch airstrikes against militant camps inside Libyan territory.
CAIRO — The Egyptian policy toward the Libyan crisis took a new turn following the attack on a bus carrying Copts in Minya province, in southern Egypt, on May 26 that killed 28 people, most of whom were children, and wounded 25 others.
Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi responded on the same day by ordering airstrikes against camps within the Libyan territories where militants responsible for attacks inside Egypt are believed to have been trained.
Sisi promised in a televised speech on the evening of the attack that he would not hesitate to launch strikes against terrorist camps training militants to carry out operations against Egypt. Indeed, Egyptian army spokesman Tamer al-Rifai vowed to renew airstrikes, which took place on May 26-29.
In October 2014, militants in the Libyan city of Derna pledged allegiance to the Islamic State and IS leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi accepted their allegiance in an audio recording posted online. However, in April 2016, the IS militants withdrew from Derna following bloody clashes with fighters from Derna’s Shura Council of Mujahideen, which includes Islamic militias, most notably al-Qaeda.
