Egyptian Navy patrol boat came under attack in the Mediterranean, 17 killed, 8 missing.

Egyptian Navy patrol boat came under attack in the Mediterranean, 17 killed, 8 missing.(IDN).

An Egyptian Navy patrol boat came under a "terrorist" attack in the Mediterranean. Military sources have reported that 17 soldiers, 4 officers and 13 soldiers, were killed in the attack, but the death toll has not yet been officially confirmed.

The vessel was conducting a routine patrol when it was attacked at sea by armed men on four "fishing boats". The naval vessel had been set alight in an exchange of fire with assailants. Four boats used by the assailants were destroyed and 32 of the suspected terrorists were arrested. Others would have fallen into the sea and other patrol boats would be looking for the bodies.

The "terrorist" attack took place on morning of November 12, 2014, off the coast of the Damietta province in the country's north east, about 70km from Egypt's shore. Air and naval reinforcement forces were summoned to respond to the attack. Rescue operations have evacuated the wounded servicemen to a military hospital.

A protest later erupted in a Damietta village after reports that the military arrested fishermen at sea following the exchange of fire. On November 16, 2014, a group of 16 fishermen arrested off the coast of Damietta were released after being investigated .The fishermen have returned to Damietta and are part of 32 who were arrested and investigated following the incident.

On November 14, 2014, a group calling itself the "Youth of the Land of Kenanah (aka Egypt) claimed responsibility for the attack on the naval vessel, declaring that it had captured the eight missing troops. The group made the announcement in a video recording featuring four masked men against the backdrop of a flag associated with the ISIL militant group.

An Egyptian military source refuted claims that the missing naval personnel had been captured during the terrorist attack. "It is not true that a terrorist group kidnapped Egyptian military personnel," the source, who requested anonymity, said.

"If this were true, why hasn't the group released the names and pictures of those it kidnapped?" the source asked. The source refrained from revealing any information on the eight troops who the army reported missing after the attack.

An Egyptian security official claimed that the perpetrators belong to Ansar Beit al Maqdis and they attacked the Egyptian naval vessel that they thought was carrying 200 soldiers to the Sinai Peninsula.

The incident in the Mediterranean comes days after Ansar Beit al-Maqdis pledged its allegiance to the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL). Its pledge of allegiance to ISIL was the most significant regional show of support for the ISIL who control swathes of Iraq and Syria.

Security expert, Hossam Sweilam said that the four hostile boats most probably sailed from Damietta, adding: "The four boats were reported missing from the port of Damietta during the period of the Muslim Brotherhood. According to initial investigations, the boats were heading to Sinai to support a sophisticated attack, when they encountered a navy vessel guarding the area", Sweliam said.

Another option is that the boats were part of the ongoing arms trade that has been smuggling weapons to terrorist groups like the Ansar Beit al-Maqdis and Hamas in the contested Gaza Strip in Israel. But if the attack on the Navy ship was carried out by smugglers, it marks a daring new tactic. Hmmmm......Hamas.....Muslim Brotherhood.....Arms smuggle....ISIS....Turkey?

Related? Turkish Envoy Playing Role of Middle Man in Arms Trafficking to Yemen.