Egypt army deliberately concealed Sinai soldier death toll, says Human rights organisation 

The Human rights organisation We Record has confirmed that the Egyptian army’s military spokesman “intentionally” concealed the real death toll of the armed forces in Sinai.

The organisation noted that the forced displacement operations implemented by the army in Sinai, specifically in Rafah, did not curb the number of attacks carried out by the militants of Daesh in Iraq and the Levant-Sinai Province, as military and security leaders have claimed.

In an investigation published under the title Sinai, the Truth Toll, the organisation stated that it had reviewed and documented more than 620 press sources and social media data, in addition to counting public and military funerals.

After reviewing available data, We Record concluded that the Egyptian Armed Forces military spokesperson: “Intentionally concealed the true death toll of forces operating in Sinai.”

The investigation affirmed that the army spokesperson claimed that only 52 soldiers were killed in 2020. However, the verified sources showed that the army lost at least 121 soldiers during that period, in addition to the number of wounded military personnel.

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The investigation documented the names of the deceased Egyptian soldiers according to the months in which they were killed in 2020.

It also recorded the names of 37 civilians, including women and children, who were killed by army bullets or improvised explosive devices planted by Daesh in Iraq and the Levant-Sinai Province during 2020.

The third part of the investigation also revealed: “The forced evictions and displacement of the people of North Sinai, specifically in the Rafah area, carried out by the Egyptian authorities as part of allegedly confronting and eliminating the military operations carried out by the militants of the Daesh in Iraq and the Levant-Sinai Province, did not reduce the armed offences, as we monitored no less than 186 attacks in North Sinai, 39 per cent of which took place in Rafah only.”