US weighs more security, withdrawal option for Sinai forces
WASHINGTON - The US is quietly reviewing America's three-decade deployment to Egypt's Sinai Peninsula, fearful that the lightly equipped peacekeepers could be targeted by Islamic State-inspired militants.
Officials tell The Associated Press the options include added security or a possible withdrawal.
The US forces have helped marshal peace there since Egypt's 1979 peace treaty with Israel. Some 700 members of an Army battalion and logistics support unit are currently there. They mainly monitor and verify compliance, and have little offensive capability. Several other countries provide personnel.
An expanding insurgency in the Sinai has the US concerned its forces are at risk. Officials say there are no current plans to bring the Americans home, but that various options have been reviewed.
