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How Sinai tribes are helping Cairo fight IS

Musa al-Dalah, the spokesman for the Tarabin tribe and one of the most prominent participants in the Sinai tribes’ battle against extremism, speaks to Al-Monitor about the tribal gains and losses in this battle.
Egyptian security personnel check cars at a checkpoint near the site, where separate attacks on security forces in North Sinai on Thursday killed 30 people, in Arish, North Sinai, Egypt, January 31, 2015.  President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi said on Saturday that Egypt faces a long, hard battle against militancy, days after one of the bloodiest attacks on security forces in years. On Thursday night, four separate attacks on security forces in North Sinai were among the worst in the country in years. Islamic Stat
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CAIRO — Musa al-Dalah, the spokesman for the Tarabin, the biggest tribe in Egypt’s Sinai Peninsula, is one of the most prominent leaders of the tribe and a major participant in the Sinai battle against extremists. He was the first to announce the participation of tribes in the war against extremist organizations in cooperation with the armed forces, and he spearheaded many of these battles.

Dalah spoke to Al-Monitor over the phone about the tribal gains and losses in these battles and whether all tribes have responded to the tribal call to fight extremist organizations. He also mentioned the most prominent problems facing the youth in Sinai and expressed his views on the calls to displace residents of North Sinai from their homeland.

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