Egypt Executes Prominent Sinai Extremist Adel Habara

Adel Habara, a prominent Sinai-based militant, was executed on Thursday morning by Egyptian prison authorities days after a court rejected his appeal.

Habara, whose death warrant was ratified by Egyptian President Abdel Fattah Al-Sisi on Wednesday night, was convicted in 2014 of murder in relation to an attack on Egyptian soldiers.

Habara was found guilty in relation to the 19 August 2013 ambush on Egyptian conscripts near Rafah in North Sinai. At the time, the attack was the deadliest in the Sinai in years.

The attack, which involved the use of rocket-propelled grenade launchers and other heavy weaponry, saw the deaths of 25 Egyptian conscripts.

According to authorities, two buses carrying the conscripts were forcibly stopped by gunmen. The gunmen forced the conscripts to get out of the bus and lay on the ground before they were shot dead. The conscripts were on the buses as they were returning home to their families for a holiday.

Egypt’s Court of Cassation rejected Habara’s appeal on Wednesday.

Egypt’s North Sinai witnessed a surge of violence following the ouster of Mohammed Morsi in July 2013. This violence has continued until today. An estimated 2100 people were killed in North Sinai in 2015, including roughly 1800 described by the military as “terrorists,” 150 civilians, 40 police officers and conscripts, and 140 military personnel.