Jan 17, 2019

CAIRO — Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi on Dec. 23 dismissed Maj. Gen. Mohamed al-Shahat from his post as director of Military Intelligence after three years on the job and appointed Maj. Gen. Khaled Megawer as his successor. Megawer had previously served as deputy director of Military Intelligence, Second Field Army commander and military attache at the Egyptian Embassy in the United States.

Sisi also issued a decree appointing Maj. Gen. Salah Saraya commander of the Western Military Region, charged with securing the Western Desert bordering Libya, which has been experiencing an intense power struggle since mass protests and rebellion led to the overthrow and murder of long-time Libyan leader Moammar Gadhafi in 2011.

Ali Ahmad, a researcher at the newspaper As-Safir, told Al-Monitor by phone that Sisi’s recent and unexpected decisions follow the ongoing failure of Egypt's intelligence services to improve security in the Western Desert and other parts of the country. Ahmad said that arms smuggling operations across the Libyan-Egyptian border, reported as on the rise, were the main reason behind the personnel changes.

Islamic extremists appear to be trying to take advantage of the current environment to spread their influence in the Western Desert. Several attacks carried out by them have dealt painful blows to the Egyptian security services. The militant groups, some of which are involved in arms smuggling, oppose the regime and want Sharia imposed in Egypt. Some of them claim affiliation with the Islamic State.

Notable among the attacks carried out by the militants is the Farafra checkpoint ambush, in which 22 border guards were killed by members of an unidentified group on July 19, 2014. According to Ahmad, the worst attack took place in the Bahariya Oasis in October 2017, when gunmen from the previously unknown Ansar al-Islam targeted a police patrol. The Interior Ministry claimed that 16 people were killed and three injured, but several security sources reported that 35 soldiers had died in the operation.