Eight members of the Multinational Observer Force (FMO) in the Egyptian Sinai, including six Americans, a French and a Czech, were killed Thursday, November 12, 2020 in the crash of their helicopter in the south of the peninsula. A U.S. member of the force, tasked with monitoring peace between Israel and Egypt, survived the crash and was evacuated for treatment, according to an FMO statement that said the crash took place during a “routine mission near Sharm el-Sheikh in Egypt”.
“The FMO will conduct an investigation to determine the cause of the accident,” the statement continued before adding that “at this stage, there is no information indicating that the crash was not a accident “. In Prague, the Czech army said in a statement that “the cause of the crash is a technical incident”. Moreover, the Czech victim has been identified as Sergeant Michaela Ticha, born in 1993. “I am terribly sorry. You are never prepared for these things. Condolences to his family, ”tweeted Czech Chief of Staff Ales Opata.
“Cooperation efforts”
FMO refers to “cooperative efforts between Egypt and Israel” following the crash. The Israeli military has “offered to provide immediate medical aid,” said spokesperson Jonathan Conricus. An army helicopter “with elite soldiers specializing in rescue was dispatched to Ramon airport (southern Israel)”, he added. The Israeli army says it offered medical assistance and evacuated the American member of the force injured in the accident to a hospital in Israel. Israeli Foreign Minister Gabi Ashkenazi expressed his “sincere condolences to the families of those killed and a speedy recovery to the injured,” according to a tweet from ministry spokesman Lior Haiat. On Twitter, the US President-elect, Joe Biden, sent his “sincere condolences to the relatives of the peacekeepers, including 6 American soldiers, who died on the island of Tiran” and also wished “a speedy recovery to the surviving American” .
I extend my deep condolences to the loved ones of the peacekeepers, including 6 American service members, who died on Tiran Island, and wish a speedy recovery to the surviving American. I join all Americans in honoring their sacrifice, as I keep their loved ones in my prayers.
— Joe Biden (@JoeBiden) November 12, 2020
The strategic island of Tiran, with Sanafir in the Red Sea, was officially ceded to Saudi Arabia in 2017 as part of an Egyptian-Saudi maritime agreement. Acting US Secretary of Defense Christopher Miller said he was “deeply saddened” by the loss of life, while US Ambassador to Egypt Jonathan Cohen paid tribute to the victims. “These six Americans, a French and a Czech embodied the noble spirit of preserving peace between our partners, Israel and Egypt,” he said on Twitter. The Frenchman killed on Thursday was the only French member of the multinational force, according to the FMO website. Lieutenant Colonel, he was a liaison officer.
1,100 soldiers of different nationalities
Three years after signing their peace treaty and after the UN announced that it would not provide peacekeepers for Sinai, Egypt and Israel, with the active support of the United States, had established this force deployed in 1982, as an independent international peacekeeping organization. It currently has just over 1,100 soldiers of various nationalities, including Australia, the United States, Canada and France.
The Sinai had been the scene of clashes between the Hebrew state and Egypt before the two countries signed peace in 1979. Today, various armed groups are rife in the peninsula, including the local branch of the jihadist organization Islamic State (IS). Egyptian security forces are fighting an Islamist insurgency that has hardened in northeast Sinai. In February 2018, the Egyptian authorities launched a large-scale operation against Islamist militants, mainly in northern Sinai, not far from Israel and the Palestinian Gaza Strip. Since the start of this operation, around 930 suspected Islamist fighters have been killed along with dozens of security personnel, according to Egyptian military data.
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