Robotic Peacekeepers: US Aims to Replace Troops With Drones in Sinai

Amid a consistent threat posed by Daesh in the Middle East, the US is mulling over the replacement of some of its soldiers in Egypt's Sinai Peninsula with high-tech drones.

Some members of America’s peacekeeping troops, deployed in the peninsula as part of the UN’s Multinational Force and Observers (MFO) effort may be sent home, Pentagon official revealed on Tuesday.

The international monitoring operation under UN guidance was launched to observe the peace agreement between Egypt and Israel following a 1979 war. Roughly 700 US servicemen are said to be engaged in the operation at the moment.

But the Pentagon is reducing the number of troops on the ground, as Daesh extremists have intensified their activities in the peninsula. In September 2015, four US nationals were injured as a result of an attack reportedly plotted by Daesh-linked actors.

A possible solution in this case could be the introduction of UAVs, Navy Captain Jeff Davis said.

"I don't think anyone is talking about a wholesale withdrawal, I think we are just going to look at the number of people we have there and see if there are functions that can be automated," he stated, highlighting that the Pentagon remains "fully committed" to the UN operation.

The Obama administration is also considering moving a US contingent from a base in the North Sinai to the southern region of the peninsula, in an attempt to mitigate risks of terrorism. The possible relocation is being discussed with both Egypt and Israel.

Violent Islamists, said to be allied with Daesh, have become increasingly prevalent in Sinai following the toppling of the Egypt’s president Mohamed Morsi in 2013.