American Troops Held Hostage in Sinai
UPDATE: BBC 16 March 2012 Last updated at 14:07 ET Bedouin in Egypt’s Sinai ‘end siege of monitor camp’
The Bedouin, who surrounded the camp belonging to the Multinational Force and Observers (MFO), reportedly reached an understanding with the authorities. Officials have been given a month to release several jailed tribesmen, some of them convicted of terrorism charges.
MFO North Camp, located at El Goreh, Egypt
Yesterday’s initial reports that a group of armed Bedouin had surrounded an installation of the Multinational Force & Observers (MFO) in Egypt’s northern Sinai desert are true. North Camp, the largest of the MFO installations, has been surrounded by about 300 armed Bedouin tribesmen demanding the release, from Egyptian custody, of five of their fellow tribesmen.
Various reports suggest that about 80 Americans, 35 Uruguayans, 300 Colombians and at least two Czechs are being detained in the camp.
MFO:
Twelve nations (Australia, Canada, Colombia, the Czech Republic, the Republic of the Fiji Islands, France, Hungary, Italy, New Zealand, Norway, the United States and Uruguay) contribute contingents to make up the MFO’s Force. It is the largest element of the MFO and is a joint organization with army, air and naval components. As of 30 September 2011, the MFO’s Force numbered 1656 personnel.
The United States provides the bulk of the forces for the MFO. Various National Guard units rotate as the response infantry battalion, the support battalion and the aviation unit. The military force is commanded by a United States Army officer.
MFO map of the Sinai, with various truce zones. Click on the map for a larger image.
The MFO’s North Camp is the organization’s largest installation and the site of the Force Commander’s Headquarters. It is located at el Gorah in the northern Sinai, approximately 20 kilometers south of the Mediterranean coastline and serves as the base of operations for MFO activities in the northern and central sectors of Zone C.
the attachments to this post:
MFO North Camp
MFO Sinai
This entry was posted on Thursday, March 15th, 2012 at 11:12 am and is filed under Military, Military, Our Allies, War on Terror. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.
[...] Troops Under Siege in Egypt Well, this sucks:About 80 American National Guard troops are believed to be among the several hundred members of the [...]