7 militants killed on 9th day of operations in Sinai
Military held press conference to announce results of campaign
On the ninth day of the fullscale military campaign in Sinai, the Egyptian Armed Forces announced on Saturday that it killed seven militants, according to a statement from the military.
This raises the number of militant deaths to 60, according to the military’s toll.
The spokesperson praised the cooperation of Sinai residents and their understanding attitude toward the nature of the full-scale operation, which includes maximum security measures.
The large-scale operation, Sinai 2018, comes as Egyptian authorities have been repeatedly promising to eliminate militants from the restive peninsula.
Also, since the start of the operation on 9 February, as a precautionary measure, all Ministry of Interior forces have been placed on maximum alert nationwide.
Meanwhile, the Egyptian Air Force prevented on Thursday an attempt to smuggle arms into the country through the western borders with Libya, according to a statement from military spokesperson Tamer Al-Refaei. Ten vehicles carrying arms and ammunitions were destroyed in the process, the statement read.
The military statement added that the operation was done with the assistance of the Military Intelligence and Reconnaissance Administration, which provided information about the suspects.
In November 2017,President Abdel Fattah Al-Sisi vowed to restore stability to the country by eradicating terrorism, placing the military and police in charge of completing the task within a period of three months. This followed a massive first-of-itskind terror attack on a mosque in Al-Arish city, which killed at least 305 citizens.
Since 2013, state security forces, represented by both the military and the police, have been engaged in violent clashes with “Sinai Province”, a group previously known as Ansar Beit Al-Maqdis. In 2014, the group declared its affiliation with the Islamic State group and has launched deadly attacks on army and police checkpoints.