Egyptian security forces backed by combat vehicles and helicopters stormed a town near the Pyramids in an attempt to drive out Islamist militants who held sway there for more than a month, brandishing their weapons as they roamed its streets.
After troops swept in, many residents of Kerdasa greeted the forces with cheers, women ululating, and others handing them out soft drinks, one witness said. The assault, in which a police general was shot to death by militants, highlighted authorities’ stepped-up resolve to move against strongholds of armed supporters of Islamist President Mohammed Morsi, who was ousted by the military July 3.
But Kerdasa residents expressed fear that the security crackdown will only drive out the militants temporarily. They said nearby villages on Cairo’s western outskirts, which are home to some of Egypt’s well-known families with a history of militancy, will continue to provide cover for those who took control of the town.
“I wish this had happened a month ago,” said Youssef Hussein, a resident of Kerdasa, hailing the early morning raid on his hometown. “We have been living in a bubble. We thought we could die every day. Kerdasa has really been wrecked.”
The offensive showcases an Egyptian society still in turmoil about Morsi’s ouster. The new military-backed leadership has undertaken a wide-scale crackdown on his supporters, while the most hard-core elements of Morsi’s Islamist backers have unleashed a campaign of violence ranging from car bombs to attacks on Christians. No side appears interested in a political settlement.
Militants took control of Kerdasa in mid-August, when a mob attacked the local police station, killed 15 policemen and mutilated their bodies, dragging some by cars, scalping at least one and pouring acid on another. It was part of a wave of retaliatory violence after security forces cracked down on the main pro-Morsi protest camps in Cairo with heavy assaults that killed hundreds.
Earlier this week, a large army-police force stormed another town where militants took control after the coup — Dalga, in southern Egypt.
On Thursday, they turned to Kerdasa, with a large force of troops and policemen encircling the town about 6 a.m.
The police general fell in the first moments. On a highway overpass on Kerdasa’s edge, Gen. Nabil Farrag had just addressed his men to rev them up for the fight, telling them, “Let’s go, men! Go in, toward martyrdom.”
Almost immediately, they came under a hail of gunfire from nearby rooftops, according to journalists at the scene.
Army soldiers and policemen ducked for cover. Farrag fell with a bullet wound in his right side, getting past the body armor he was wearing. He lay in the street for nearly 15 minutes, blood soaking through his white uniform, until his men could reach him, carrying him into a military vehicle that took him to a hospital.
The Interior Ministry, which is in charge of the police, later announced Farrag’s death.
The troops moved into the town, conducting house-to-house raids searching for wanted militants. They arrested 65 suspects, including three wanted for the attack on the police station, state TV reported. A special forces colonel, Hassan Moussa, told the private CBC station that his forces seized automatic weapons and hand grenades in the raids.
At least 10 policemen were wounded in two grenade attacks during the sweeps, police Gen. Medhat el-Menshawy said.
By the evening, the security forces moved to besiege the neighboring village of Nahya, home to families linked to the hard-line Gamaa Islamiya group and other militants, state TV reported.
About the Author
