Egypt pounds Sinai terrorists

CAIRO (Reuters) – Residents of Israel’s South could hear explosions coming from across the border in Sinai, as Egypt’s air force pounded terrorist targets in the northern and central parts of the peninsula on Saturday, the second day of an assault to try and crush an insurgency that has killed hundreds of people since 2013.

President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi, who is seeking reelection in March, ordered the armed forces in November to defeat terrorists within three months after an attack on a mosque killed more than 300 people.

Islamist insurgents have been targeting security forces since 2013 when the army led by Sisi, then the army chief, ousted president Mohamed Morsi, of the Muslim Brotherhood, following mass protests against his rule.

The military said its warplanes struck “terrorist concentrations and hideouts” in northern and central Sinai through Friday night and into the early hours of Saturday, targeting weapons warehouses and logistics support areas.

On the ground, special forces, working with police, conducted raids inside cities in Sinai to seize terrorists, military spokesman Col. Tamer al-Rifai said.

Border guards and naval forces were securing the Suez Canal to make sure navigation through the international waterway was not affected, the statement said.

The statement gave no details on any casualties in the operation or any figures on the number of people arrested, but said the assault would continue.

“The armed forces and the police assert their determination to uproot terrorism and to achieve peace and stability,” Rifai said, according to the statement.