‘Nothing to Stop ISIS’: Attack Underscores Threat Facing US Force in Egypt

Fox News
By: Kelley Beaucar Vlahos, Lucas Tomlinson and The Associated Press

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An attack that wounded four American soldiers Thursday in Egypt’s Sinai Peninsula underscores the growing risks faced by the U.S. contingent stationed there and is likely to fuel an internal debate over whether they should be reinforced with heavier weapons to protect against ISIS…

“They don’t have the built-up security you would normally have for force protection purposes, to defend against terrorists. They have bunkers there, but nothing to stop ISIS,” said former FBI agent Martin Reardon, who worked counterterrorism operations in the Middle East and is now vice president of The Soufan Group and based in Qatar.

While the Sinai is part of Egypt, the MFO is tasked with monitoring the terms of the 1979 peace agreement. The U.S. contingent there, by far the largest in the MFO (followed by Colombia with 358 soldiers and Fiji with 338), is made up of members of two infantry and logistics battalions. They mostly monitor and verify compliance and have little offensive capability. The force is mandated to be there unless in “imminent danger…”

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