Egypt's army vowed Monday to "avenge" the killing of 16 troops by gunmen near the Israeli border, as President Mohamed Morsi ordered security forces to take full control of the Sinai Peninsula. In Sunday's attack, 35 gunmen in Bedouin clothing opened fire on the troops before crossing into the Jewish state in an armoured vehicle, Egyptian officials said. Israel said five gunmen were killed on its side.
The 1979 peace treaty between Egypt and Israel, under which Israel withdrew from the Sinai which it had occupied in the 1967 Middle East war, set strict limits on Egyptian troop numbers in the peninsula. But Israel has complained of growing lawlessness on its southern border since the overthrow of veteran president Hosni Mubarak last year and called for action by Cairo.
"We swear in the name of God to avenge them," the Egyptian army said. "Egyptians will not have to wait long before they see a reaction to this attack by terrorists." "Anyone liaising with these groups that have attacked our troops in the Sinai in recent months will pay dearly, be it inside Egypt or abroad," it added. Israel said two armoured vehicles were seized, one of which exploded by itself and the other destroyed by a helicopter. The Israeli army said it found the bodies of five gunmen.
Gunmen aboard the armoured vehicle "fired in every direction after entering Israeli territory before being attacked by tanks and from the air," said Mordechai. They were "members of the global jihad based in Sinai, which has become a hothouse for world terrorism because of the weak control exercised" by Egypt, he added.
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