Atef Sadat

Mohamed Atef Anwar Sadat
محمد عاطف أنور السادات
Atef Sadat
Born(1948-03-13)13 March 1948
Mit Abu El Kom, Monufia, Kingdom of Egypt
Died6 October 1973(1973-10-06) (aged 25)
Sinai Peninsula
AllegianceEgypt Egypt
Service/branch Egyptian Air Force
Years of service1966–1973
Rank Flight lieutenant
Battles/warsYom Kippur War
AwardsOrder of the Sinai Star
Atef with his stepbrother Anwar

Mohamed Atef Anwar Sadat (Arabic: محمد عاطف أنور السادات; 13 March 1948 – 6 October 1973) was a fighter pilot in the Egyptian Air Force who had the rank of flight lieutenant. In the Yom Kippur War, he and colleagues were killed in a raid on an Israeli military airport. He is the younger half brother of former Egyptian President Anwar Sadat, who was assassinated on the same day eight years later.[1]

Early life

Atef Sadat was born on 13 March 1948 in the village of Mit Abu El Kom, Tala District, in Monufia Governorate. He graduated from the Egyptian Air Academy in 1966, and spent two years in the Soviet Union, attending a training program on jet fighters and then fighter bombers (the Sukhoi Su-7).[2]

Yom Kippur War

On 5 October 1973, a state of readiness was launched at Bilbeis Airport, and every pilot ran a fighter inside the fortified aircraft complex, and the planes were armed with bombs and ready, but the mission was cancelled as this was a training exercise on assembling pilots.[3]

During the First Egyptian Air Strike, Atef Sadat was part of Sukhoi Su-7 formation that attacked the Israeli Meliz airfield. during the attack, Atef's plane was shot down and he was killed.[4]

Reports of his death

To avoid distracting her husband, Jehan Sadat waited until the eighth day of the war before breaking the news of his stepbrother's death to him.[5] He was first reported dead on 5 January 1974 by Egyptian newspapers.[6] On 31 March 1974, an Israeli army spokesman disclosed that a search party had found his body in the sands of the western Sinai Peninsula and that it had handed him over to the Egyptian government.[7] He was buried the same day[2] in his hometown of Mit Abu El Kom.[8]

Honors

Order of the Sinai Star : When the celebration was held to honor the heroes of October in the People's Assembly, Anwar Sadat received the Order of the Sinai Star in honor of his stepbrother's name, and the Minister of War, Ahmad Ismail Ali, handed him the medal.[9]

References