Originally published on January 28, 2014
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In a worrisome new development in Egypt's volatile Sinai Peninsula, officials say a military helicopter has — for the first time — been brought down by militants firing surface-to-air missiles.
Egypt is already struggling with a moribund economy and political insecurity, but Saturday's surface-air-missile attack, shown on a YouTube video released by a terror-linked group, demonstrates that a potentially new and deadly threat is brewing in Egypt's Sinai Peninsula.
Although initially tight-lipped, Egypt has now confirmed that the Egyptian military helicopter was shot down over the Sinai Peninsula on Jan. 25, with what is believed to be a Russian-made Strela-2, which is a shoulder-fired, surface-to-air missile that's been in production since Soviet times.
Egypt says all five aboard the helicopter were killed after the shoulder-fired man-portable surface-to-air brought down the craft on Saturday.
The use of these Russian-made Strela-2 missiles, which are light, portable and can be fired by a single individual, marks a dramatic escalation in Egypt's bid to fight terror-linked groups in the region.
The missiles likely came to Egypt after the 2011 fall of Libyan dictator Muammar Gaddafi, when Libyan arms stockpiles were raided and some advanced weaponry — along with caches conventional guns and other munitions, fell into the arsenals of armed groups across North Africa.
The missiles pose a threat not only to the Egyptian military, but also to concern for commercial jetliners. One Dutch airline has already suspended flights to Egypt's Sharm el-Sheikh resort over concerns.
Egypt relies on attack helicopters to reign in Sinai's militants, but the missile attack could force Egypt to switch to bombing with high-flying jets, causing greater collateral damage.
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