The Cutting Edge

Heavily armed Islamic terrorists attacked and killed 16 Egyptian police officers on Sunday, seized two military vehicles, and then attempted to attack Israeli police and security officers posted on the Sinai-Israeli border, according to a report from a police source in Israel.

The Israeli Air Force (IAF) quickly responded by bombing one of the armored vehicles and killing four of the terrorists, according to the Israel National Police source. Ehud Barak, Israel's Minister of Defense called for Egyptian government officials to increase the security in order to prevent terrorist operations launched from the porous Sinai region.

The problem for Israel is now compounded by the fact that Egyptian President Mohamed Mursi is himself an Islamist member of the radical Muslim Brotherhood who all but took over the government after former U.S. and Israeli ally President Hosni Mubarak was overthrown last year in a rebellion, according to counterterrorism expert and police advisor Saul Dominivitz.

The situation is further complicated because of Egypt's close relationships with terrorists in the Gaza Strip such as Hamas, Palestinian Muslim Jihad, and the Egyptian-based Salafists. Israel is also accusing Palestinian terrorists in Gaza of involvement in terrorist training and in the Sinai region, especially since the Mubarak government was overthrown. President Mursi promised the Israeli government that he would make security in Egypt and on its border with Israel a top priority, but the Israeli police source claims Mursi has little control over the nation's security and military forces.

"Clear orders have been given to our armed forces and police to chase and arrest those who carried out this assault on our children," Mursi said in a speech on Egyptian state television (MENA). "The forces will impose full control over these areas of Sinai." The Egyptian state news agency quoted a security official as saying the attack was carried out by radical Islamists who infiltrated from Gaza via a tunnel as well as by other terrorists from two regions in Egypt's Sinai peninsula.

Meanwhile, Israel's Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said in a statement that the Israeli Defense Forces (IDF) and members of the Israel Security Agency (ISA) had thwarted a deadly attack against Israeli civilians. "Whoever intends to attack us must know that our long arm will find him," Neyanyahu said in a Twitter posted statement.

Jim Kouri, is the fifth Vice President and Public Information Officer of the National Association of Chiefs of Police and has served on the National Drug Task Force and trained police and security officers throughout the country. He writes for The Examiner, from where this article is adapted.