Aftandilian Publishes Op-Ed on Terrorism in Egypt
Gregory Aftandilian, Lecturer at the Frederick S. Pardee School of Global Studies at Boston University, said that Egypt needed to adopt a comprehensive strategy for counterterrorism.
Aftandilian made his argument in an Op-Ed written for the Tahrir Institute for Middle East Policy on Nov. 16, entitled “Egypt Needs a Comprehensive Approach to Terrorism.”
From the text of the Op-Ed:
Statistics compiled by the Tahrir Institute for Middle East Policy, a non-partisan research institute, show that incidents of terrorist violence have spiked from an average of 30 per month in 2014 to an average of 100 per month from January to August 2015. In addition, the major terrorist group in North Sinai, Ansar Bayt al-Maqdis—now calling itself Wilayat Sinai, the “Sinai Province” of the Islamic State—has grown more sophisticated in its attacks and has taken on aspects of an insurgency. On July 1 of this year, it staged a series of coordinated attacks in the North Sinai region, even taking over the town of Sheikh Zuweid for several hours. Wilayat Sinai’s forces killed a large, disputed number of soldiers and police before the terrorists were forced to retreat.
In mainland Egypt, groups like Ajnad Misr and the Allied Popular Resistance Movement, some of whose members are believed to be former Muslim Brotherhood youth activists who grew disillusioned with the Brotherhood’s longstanding position on nonviolence, have attacked regime officials, economic infrastructure, and police. Reports of attacks have increased in the Cairo area and in the governorates of Fayoum and Sharqia.
You can read the entire Op-Ed here.
Aftandilian spent over 21 years in government service, most recently on Capitol Hill where he was foreign policy adviser to Congressman Chris Van Hollen (2007-2008), professional staff member of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee and foreign policy adviser to Senator Paul Sarbanes (2000-2004), and foreign policy fellow to the late Senator Edward Kennedy (1999). Learn more about him here.