The North Africa Journal – 22 November, 2017: Although authorities have so far been able to contain the militant threat in most parts of North Africa, while Libya is bearing the brunt of the violence and Egypt struggling to contain insurgents, the region at-large is living a permanent state of threat from al-Qaeda, Islamic State and other extremist organizations. Borders separating countries do not shield the individual nations against militants, as they are easy to infiltrate, despite efforts from governments to reinforce security along the borders. For instance Egypt has seen a recent escalation of its conflict with the proliferation of militant activity in its western desert because of its proximity to Libya, where weapons and militants come from. This development is expanding the crisis in Egypt from what used to be the confined Sinai region in the northeast, to the western desert, toward Libya, essentially creating a third front (in the western desert), in addition to Sinai and the big urban centers. The infiltration of militants from Libya, prompted Egypt to unleash attacks on militants, and several Libyan sources accuse the Egyptian Air Force of bombing targets within the Libyan territory, resulting in civilian deaths. The accusations have been denied by Cairo.
