Egypt’s security forces kill 10 militants in Operation Sinai
Ten militants have been killed and 245 suspects arrested in the Sinai Peninsula, the Egyptian army said.
Since the launch of Operation Sinai on February 9, the armed forces say they have killed dozens of militants, while army fatalities reached 16 yesterday after the death of four soldiers.
The army “destroyed 145 shelters and warehouses in the mountainous region”, it said. “The air forces struck six targets belonging to the terrorists and destroyed two booby-trapped vehicles.”
Egyptian President Abdel Fattah El Sisi, who is seeking re-election this month, vowed in November to wipe out terrorists “within three months”.
His pledge came after militants killed more than 300 people at a mosque in the village of Al Rawdah, in the northern area of the peninsula near Bir El Abd town. No group claimed responsibility for the attack.
Egypt’s security forces have increasingly become targets for extremists since the army overthrew Mr El Sisi’s predecessor, president Mohammed Morsi of the Muslim Brotherhood, in 2013.
A group of extremists in Sinai swore allegiance to ISIL in 2014. Attacks by the militants have since killed hundreds of soldiers and police, as well as civilians.
Operation Sinai 2018 will cover large parts of the peninsula but also parts of the Nile Delta and the west desert, where other militants have launched attacks.