On July 1, two days before the second anniversary of the regime change that brought President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi to power, Egypt’s military suffered its most significant terrorist attack in the Sinai Peninsula when Islamic State-affiliated (IS) militants overwhelmed numerous security checkpoints around the town of Sheikh Zuweid. According to the government, the operation claimed the lives of 21 soldiers, but some reports estimated the death toll at more than 50.
As photos of the young conscripts who had died circulated in newspapers and on social media, many Egyptians were alarmed at how the military could crumble so tragically. The martyred became the latest of at least 600 security personnel to lose their lives in the government’s war on terrorism.
