U.S. Media and Egyptian Media Black Out of Military Attacks

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Reality Check
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U.S. Media and Egyptian Media Black Out of Military Attacks

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U.S. News Media and Egyptian News Media appear to have blacked out reports of military battles in Egypt's Sinai Peninsula on Friday, Saturday and Sunday. News reports based on the official Egyptian Army information release are beginning to appear in U.S. Media on Monday the 17th.

Summary of Weekend Attacks: http://www.debka.com/article/22360/Al-Q ... n-chopper-

On Saturday and Sunday Major newspapers in Australia, Israel, Great Britain, other foreign countries, and the official web site of the 1,600 soldier strong International Peace Keepers stationed in Egypt reported one, and sometimes all, of the attacks based on sources within the International Forces, Egyptian Military Sources and Israeli Military and Intelligence Sources. Significant differences exist between the official Egyptian military information release days after the initial attack and the earlier “unofficial” reports from military units involved in the fighting.

These attacks occurred on Friday September 14th and Sunday September 16th and likely the 15th as well. Battles may be continuing today on the 17th ( local time in Egypt ).

On one side in these battles is the 1,600 Soldier strong International Peacekeeping forces and the Egyptian Army, on the other side are the Bedouin Salafi Islamist Militia, Al Qaeda affiliated Jund al Sharia militia, and other Al Qaeda affiliated militias that have infiltrated the Sinai Peninsula since the Arab Spring and the Libyan War.

U.S. Soldiers make up about half of the 1,600 soldier strong Peace keeping force. In addition to one U.S. Combat Infantry Battalion, the Peace Keepers have one Combat Infantry Battalion from Columbia and one Combat Infantry Battalion from Fiji. Large numbers of additional command and support troops from the United States and other countries are also included in the 1,600 strong force. Australia, Canada, France, New Zealand, and other countries contribute troops to this Peace Keeping force.

Reports from most sources, except the official Egyptian Military information releases that did not begin to appear until Monday the 17th, indicate that the Islamic Militias initiated these coordinated military attacks along a broad front, and that Peace Keepers and the Egyptian Army were reacting to them.

Weapons used by the militias included Explosive devices to breach walls at the Peace Keeper and Egyptian military Headquarters, RPGs, Mortars and Stinger anti-aircraft missiles looted from Libya.

Some reports indicate one Egyptian Military aircraft was shot down. It was also reported that Peace Keepers did not fly their aircraft for fear of being shot down by the Islamic militias.

Multiple reports indicate that the perimeter at the International Peace Keepers Military Headquarters was breached, a Guard Tower and vehicle destroyed, 60 armed militants entered the Peace Keepers headquarters base, and that the Peace Keepers main base remained under siege for days until relieved by an Egyptian army force that included 50 tanks and other armored vehicles. Four peace keepers were reported wounded and two were reported evacuated to Israeli hospitals for treatment. One Peace Keeper was reported in serious condition. American troops were NOT reported to be among the wounded peace keepers but Colombian troops were.

Additional reports over the weekend indicate the Islamic Militias also initiated coordinated military attacks on a broad front against Egyptian Military Bases and units in the Sinai.

One of the Egyptian bases attacked, and overrun, by some reports, was the Egyptian Military Security Headquarters base in the Sinai. RPG attacks and heavy machine gun battles that lasted for hours were reported in the streets around the Egyptian base.

Reports on what actually happened varied, but the fact that both U.S. & Egyptian Media apparently blacked out these reports over the weekend is interesting.

One exception to this was a brief Stars and Stripes Newspaper report that stressed that no U.S. Troops were injured in the initial attack on peace keepers. Stars and Strips is a newspaper that serves U.S. Troops in uniform and their families ( the sources for the Stars and Strips article were New Mexico state officials – not federal officials – discussing the safety of New Mexico National Guard troops deployed in Egypt ).

The following are links to news paper articles over the weekend on these attacks.

Summary of Weekend Attacks: http://www.debka.com/article/22360/Al-Q ... n-chopper-

Back Ground on Islamic Militias Operating in Egypt:

http://www.longwarjournal.org/threat-ma ... ges_in.php
http://www.longwarjournal.org/archives/ ... ts_ove.php

Friday Newspaper Articles:

http://www.timesofisrael.com/gunmen-att ... ed-killed/
http://www.haaretz.com/news/middle-east ... d-1.465096
http://metronews.ca/news/canada/370576/ ... ai-attack/
http://godourlight.info/?p=786


Saturday Newspaper Articles:

http://www.theaustralian.com.au/news/br ... 6474780748
http://www.longwarjournal.org/archives/ ... ck_int.php
http://www.stripes.com/news/africa/nm-g ... t-1.189388

Sunday Newspaper Articles:
http://www.debka.com/article/22360/Al-Q ... n-chopper-
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldne ... ashes.html
http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2012/se ... sfeed=true
http://www.israelnationalnews.com/News/ ... FeQ4VFtg_4
http://www.haaretz.com/news/middle-east ... i-1.465322
http://www.jpost.com/MiddleEast/Article.aspx?id=285267



More recent articles quoting the official Egyptian Military Information release first appearing on Monday, September 17th, can be found on the Internet.

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