Egypt starts anti-insurgent campaign

EL-ARISH, Egypt — Egypt began a massive security operation Friday involving land, sea and air forces in areas including the northern Sinai Peninsula, the epicenter of an Islamic insurgency spearheaded by a local affiliate of the Islamic State group.

The operation, announced in a televised statement by army spokesman Col. Tamer el-rifaai, began early Friday and covers central Sinai and areas in Egypt’s Nile Delta and Western Desert. He said the operation is targeting “terrorist and criminal elements and organizations.” There was no indication how long the operation would last.

In a subsequent statement, el-rifaai said the air force carried out airstrikes on militant hideouts in north and central Sinai. He added that naval forces were deployed to cut off their supply lines.

Security officials said the forces killed at least 20 militants in the north Sinai town of Bir al-abd.

They added that militants are also being targeted south and west of the town of Rafah, on the border with the Gaza strip. They spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to brief the media.

The military campaign comes ahead of the presidential election in March in which President Abdel-fattah el-sissi is running for a second four-year term with no serious contenders. El-sissi was elected in 2014 with promises of restoring security.

Egypt has for years been struggling to contain an Islamic insurgency in the turbulent Sinai region. It has carried out military operations there that, it says, have killed hundreds of militants and soldiers over the years. Egypt also built a buffer zone along the border with Gaza to curb the flow of militants and weapons through a vast tunnel network under the border. The insurgency, nevertheless, has shown no signs of abating.

In November, militants killed 311 worshippers in a mosque attack in the region, the deadliest in Egypt’s modern history. Shortly afterward, el-sissi gave security forces a threemonth deadline to restore stability to northern Sinai and authorized his chief of staff to use “all brute force.”

Egypt is also facing a growing number of attacks in its Western Desert along the porous border with Libya that has been the source of serious concern to authorities who contend Islamic militants and smugglers use it as their route into the country.