Egyptian soldier killed in Rafah attack

Source : Maan News Agency

BETHLEHEM (Ma'an) -- An Egyptian soldier was killed on Monday during a militant attack on an army camp in Sinai.

Gunmen fired rocket-propelled grenades at Egyptian forces near Rafah, killing a soldier, Ma'an's correspondent said.

Militants attacked eight other army checkpoints in the el-Arish, Sheikh Zuweid and Rafah, injuring eight soldiers.

On Sunday, gunmen fired US-made ballistic shells at a security building in north Sinai, Egypt's Ministry of Interior said.

"Terrorists targeted the security directorate of north of Sinai from a lon distance," the ministry said. Security sources detained three suspects i Sinai, after clashing with two of them.

A police station in el-Arish was also targeted late Sunday by a bomb, with n injuries reported.

On Wednesday, militants shot dead an Egyptian soldier and wounde another south of el-Arish in Egypt's Sinai. Militants have conducted dai attacks on security forces in Sinai since the military overthrew Islamis President Mohamed Mursi on July 3.

Egypt militants bomb gas pipeline to Jordan

Source : Al Akhbar English

Attackers in Egypt's Sinai Peninsula bombed a gas pipeline to Jordan on Sunday, witnesses said, amid a surge in attacks on police and soldiers since Islamist president Mohammed Mursi's ouster.

Witnesses told AFP the blast took place near the North Sinai provincial capital of El-Arish, scene of major disturbances since Mursi's overthrow by the military on Wednesday.

On Friday, armed Mursi supporters stormed the provincial headquarters, raising the black banner used by al-Qaeda-affiliated militants, an AFP correspondent reported.

A Jordanian government official confirmed that gas supplies to the energy-poor kingdom were cut.

"The gas supplies to Jordan stopped due to the attack," the official told state-run Petra news agency.

"The Egyptian authorities have informed us that they are currently evaluating the situation and the damage," he added without elaborating. Egyptian gas covers 80 percent of electricity generation in Jordan, which imports 95 percent of its energy needs.

But Sunday's bombing was the first reported in almost a year.

Five security officers were killed at their checkpoints in Sinai on Friday and four other checkpoints were attacked on Saturday.

A priest was killed at one checkpoint by a group of militants, according to security sources.

(AFP, Reuters)

Commander: Terrorists in Syria to Hit Heavy Blow at US, Europe in Future

Source : Islamic Invitation Turkey

Deputy Chief of Staff of the Iranian Armed Forces for Cultural Affairs and Defense Publicity Brigadier General Massoud Jazayeri warned the US and certain European states which support the terrorist groups in Syria that the same terrorists will hit a heavy blow at them in future.

“Regional reactionaries, certain European states and the US which are responsible for the turmoil in the region will receive heavy blows from the same terrorists (that they have supported),” Jazayeri said in Tehran on Sunday.

“The US mistakenly thinks that it can use al-Qaeda and the terrorist groups to its interests for a long time and it will witness the presence of its protégés in the US and European cities,” he added.

Syria has been experiencing unrest since March 2011 with organized attacks by well-armed gangs against the Syrian police, border guards, statesmen, army and the civilians being reported across the country.

Thousands of people have been killed since terrorist and armed groups turned protest rallies into armed clashes.

The government blames outlaws, saboteurs, and armed terrorist groups for the deaths, stressing that the unrest is being orchestrated from abroad.

In October 2011, calm was almost restored in most parts of the Arab state after President Assad started a reform initiative in the country, but Israel, the US and its Arab allies brought the country into chaos through every possible means. Tel Aviv, Washington and some Arab capitals have been staging various plots in the hope of increasing unrests in Syria.

The US daily, Washington Post, reported in May, 2012 that the Syrian rebels and terrorist groups battling Assad’s government have received significantly more and better weapons in recent weeks, a crime paid for by the Persian Gulf Arab states and coordinated by the United States.

The newspaper, quoting opposition activists and US and foreign officials, reported that Obama administration officials emphasized the administration has expanded contacts with opposition military forces to provide the Persian Gulf nations with assessments of rebel credibility and command-and-control infrastructure.

According to the report, material is being stockpiled in Damascus, in Idlib near the Turkish border and in Zabadani on the Lebanese border.

Opposition activists who several months ago said the rebels were running out of ammunition said in May that the flow of weapons – most bought on the black market in neighboring countries or from elements of the Syrian military in the past – has significantly increased after a decision by Saudi Arabia, Qatar and other Persian Gulf states to provide millions of dollars in funding each month.