Description

Egypt's Sinai Peninsula long had an uneasy relationship with the central government in Cairo. Cairo saw it as a desolate frontier inhabited by independent-minded Bedouin tribes, treated it as a militarised buffer zone during the 1948-1973 Arab-Israeli wars, and failed to integrate it economically or politically with the rest of the country.

Starting in the early 2000s, radicalised Sinai Bedouin launched an Al Qa'ida-inspired terrorist campaign against the state. Fighting dramatically intensified after the 2011 Arab Spring revolution as central government control faded. The Egyptian Army moved in to wage war inside its borders for the first time in modern history. From 2011 to 2023, it fought a bitter counterinsurgency against jihadist and Bedouin opponents.

The homegrown terrorist group joined the Islamic State in 2014 and became one of its most lethal branches, boosted by the combat expertise and resources of the global jihadist movement. For nearly a decade, control of Sinai hung in the balance as Cairo struggled to maintain control of the peninsula. Ultimately, the Egyptian military prevailed - through brute force, sound counterinsurgency tactics, and secret Israeli airstrikes. The Islamic State was defeated in Sinai, but whether Cairo can win the peace by fully developing the region remains to be seen.

Black Flag Over Sinai is the first book in the English language to fully cover the Sinai insurgency, using both Egyptian military and terrorist sources, and is richly-illustrated with dramatic combat images and specially-commissioned colour artwork.