Commander of Thunderbolt Forces during War of Attrition dies

CAIRO - 16 July 2019: Commander of Thunderbolt Forces during the War of Attrition against Israel Major General Nabil Shokry, 89, died on Monday.

The War of Attrition started on July 1, 1967 after Israel had occupied Sinai through the Six Day War that took place in June of the same year. A ceasefire took effect on August 7, 1970.

Through October 6, 1973 War, the Egyptian Army restored 15 kilometers of Sinai’s land. The rest was recovered through a peace treaty signed in 1979; except for Taba that Egypt retrieved by international arbitration in 1988. The Israeli withdrawal from Sinai occurred in stages that ended in 1982.

Major General Nabil Shokry was born on October 24, 1930 in Cairo. He joined the Military Academy in 1948 and graduated in 1950. Shokry had first joined the sixth Infantry Division. Later, he was part of the paratrooper forces until he became a commando.

Under his command the Thunderbolt Forces carried out 42 operations and the Armed Forces was able to build missile launch facilities to stop Israeli raids, and that was one of the preparations for 1973 War.

The operations included reconnaissance, planting landmines, incursion into enemy strongholds and positions, setting up ambushes, and abduction of Israeli soldiers.

Shokry submitted his resignation when Egypt was getting ready for October 6 War but late President Anwar al-Sadat rejected the resignation.

In 1978, Shokry led the Larnaca Airport Operation, where Egyptian Commando Forces arrested the assassins of late Minister of Culture and author Youssef al-Sebai who was shot dead while attending a conference in the Cypriot capital, Nicosia.