Cairo: Footage has emerged of the moment the Cosco Asia came under attack last Saturday. The video shows a brigade from a group calling itself Al Furqan firing two RPGs at the giant containership as it transited the Suez Canal.
The Jihadi group aired the video, putting the al-Qaeda flag in a corner, with the name of Al Furqan written over it. Al Furqan is best known in Syria and Palestine.
Due to the misreporting and possible intentional minimization of the attack, American security firm Nexus Consulting has just issued a serve warning for vessels transiting the Suez Canal. “Vessels transiting the canal must exercise the utmost vigilance,” Nexus warned.
“Clearly not all the members of this attack were captured as reported by the Egyptian military as at least one was able to upload this video, and we suspect all members escaped and any ‘arrests’ were not the right persons,” Nexus reckoned.
The Suez Canal is still not listed by insurance firms as a high risk area and shipping lines continue to hope that Saturday’s attack was a one off. The military presence along the waterway is at its highest level for decades, with reports of military lining the shoreside and the Suez Canal Authority saying that today the military has moved to control every single installation along the maritime throughfare.
Nevertheless, Nexus warned: “There are now known individuals of Al Furqan seeking to disrupt the canal with extreme means, including deadly force.” [05/09/13]
