Sisi rejects plan to evacuate Arish amid growing IS threats

CAIRO - 1 March 2017: Egyptian President Abdel Fatah al-Sisi refused a plan to evacuate the residents of Arish, in South Sinai, to deal with terrorist threats there, the president told the second National Youth Conference of the Presidential Leadership Program Tuesday,

Youm7 reported

.

Sisi said Egypt has been facing a great challenge and a war against terrorism for over 40 months. Terrorists evolve their methods as the state grows stronger, said Sisi, and a lot of resources are dedicated for operations against terrorist organizations.

“Evacuating villages and cities is not difficult,” said President Sisi. “But we did not do that and we will not do it.”

Following a number of terrorist attacks targeting Egyptian Christians in North Sinai, Coptic Christians started fleeing from Arish to Ismailia City in February. Some of the attacks against the Christian community were claimed by the Islamic State (IS), which has vowed to continue tacks against Christians and to

“liberate Cairo.”

Sisi emphasized in his speech that history will show how Egyptians have handled the most difficult situations and preserved their country.

“The situation in the region is very tough and we are part of it and there is not any danger facing the Egyptian state,” Sisi said.

Egypt’s first

National Youth Conference

 was launched in October 2016, gathering over 3,000 Egyptian youth along with government officials, media and political powers with “the purpose of extending effective communication channels among the Egyptian Government and the prominent Egyptian youth.”