Islamist gunmen killed 15 soldiers
Aug. 5 attack, which posed one of the most serious tests for President Mohamed Mursi since taking office, was aimed at driving a wedge between Egypt and the Hamas government in Gaza while also discrediting the newly appointed government of Prime Minister Hisham Qandil the first Cabinet to be named after Mursi assumed office in June.
The attack “draws our attention to the fact that our forces in the Sinai lack the personnel and the equipment to protect the region or guard our borders, which makes it imperative to review the terms of our accords with Israel,” the Brotherhood said in a statement posted today on the website of its political arm, the Freedom and Justice Party.
Israel has returned to Egypt the bodies of “between six and eight” gunmen involved in a deadly attack in northern Sinai who then forced their way over the Israeli border, a military spokesman said on Tuesday.
He said that some of the bodies had been so badly torn apart by explosives that it was impossible to be sure how many there were.
“There were between six and eight bodies,” he said. “One or more of the terrorists had explosives on them and they exploded. For now it’s unclear how many terrorists there were.”
The remains were sent back overnight, the military said.
In Sunday’s attack, 35 gunmen in Bedouin clothing opened fire on an Egyptian border post, killing 16, before crossing into the Jewish state in an armoured vehicle and an explosives-laden pickup truck, Egyptian officials said.
Israel initially said its troops killed five gunmen, with the armoured vehicle destroyed by helicopter fire.
