2014 Farafra ambush

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On July 19, 2014, unidentified gunmen ambushed a desert checkpoint on the Farafra Oasis Road in Egypt’s New Valley Governorate, near the Libyan border. Twenty-two Egyptian border guards were killed in the attack, which lasted about 30 minutes and involved machine guns and rocket-propelled grenades. The attackers also died, and two booby-trapped vehicles were discovered and defused. The assault followed a previous attack at the same checkpoint two months earlier that killed five soldiers. Security officials said the gunmen were not Egyptian and were paid to smuggle weapons from Libya. After the attack, the army deployed helicopters and special forces, tightened border security, and launched a large surveillance operation. The government and many leaders condemned the attack and promised to avenge those killed. In the years that followed, several suspects were tried; Hesham Ashmawy, linked to the attackers, was captured in Libya, extradited to Egypt, and later sentenced to death for this attack and other crimes.