Entity: Tariq Abdul-Satter Module [TASM]

• Local Name: N/a
• Transliteration: N/a
• Alternatives: Karnak Cell
• Status: 2015 – 2015 Defeated
• Conflicts: Egyptian Islamist Militancy

The Tariq Abdul-Satter Module [TASM] was a small jihadi cell loyal to the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant [DaIISh; Dawlat al-Islamiya fi-Iraq wal ash-Sham]. It was based in the Beni Suef governorate.¹ The module emerged out of a group of Islamists that had gathered around Tariq Abdul-Satter following the 2013 army coup.² Abdul-Satter maintained contacts with elements in the mainland branches of the Partisans of the Holy House [ABaM; Ansar Bait al-Maqdis].³ He and his followers later turned into enthusiastic supporters of the DaIISh. Abdul-Satter became a close associate of Ashraf al-Gharabli, a former ABaM operative who headed jihadis loyal to the DaIISh. Some of Abdul-Satter’s companions developed contacts with members of the DaIISh in Iraq, Libya and Syria.⁴

In 2015, Gharabli tasked Abdul-Satter with launching attacks against security forces and tourists in Upper Egypt.⁵ Abdul-Satter had some of his followers trained in bomb making and weapons handling.⁶ After a while, the TASM tried to launch attacks in the Beni Suef governorate. Two attempts to attack the police with bombs failed.⁷

Gharabli later assigned two jihadis from Sudan and Tunisia to the cell. Both men had volunteered to become suicide attackers.⁸ In June 2015, the TASM dispatched the two suicide bombers to an ancient temple complex near Uqsur in an attempt to kill tourists. A vigilant taxi driver alerted police and officers intercepted the attackers. One of the bombers blew himself up, while the other was shot dead. No foreigners were harmed in the incident.⁹

In the wake of the failed attack, the Egyptian authorities cracked down on the TASM. On Jul. 24, 2015, security forces apprehended five members of the cell during raids on their homes in Ehansia, in the Beni Suef governorate.¹⁰ Police also seized weapons and explosives during the operation. By late August, eight members of the module had been arrested.¹¹ Prosecutors referred these militants and several fugitives to military court.¹²

On Dec. 17, 2015, an Egyptian court sentenced many of the key operatives of the TASM to life imprisonment.¹³ Other members were given shorter prison terms. Most of the militants were convicted in absentia and remain at large.