EGYPT FORCES NEUTRALIZE 53 TERRORISTS IN SINAI CAMPS
CAIRO— Egyptian forces have killed 53 Islamist militants and arrested 680 suspects in a week-long offensive to crush insurgents in the Sinai Peninsula, a military spokesperson said.
President Abdel Fattah alSisi, who is seeking reelection in March, ordered the armed forces in November to defeat militants within three months after an attack on a mosque in Sinai killed more than 300 people.
Targets
The security operation began last Friday and targeted “terrorist and criminal elements and organizations” in north and central Sinai, parts of the Nile delta and the western desert, said Col. Tamer al-Rifai.
Rifai said forces have de- stroyed over 1,000 kilograms of explosives, 378 militant hideouts and weapon storage facilities including a media center used by the militants.
Suspects detained
He added that 680 people, some of them suspected militants or wanted criminals, were also detained in the operation.
The Air Force has carried out more than 100 airstrikes in northern and central Sinai since the operation began, focusing on militant hideouts outside residential areas, Air Force Brig. Gen. Alaa Dawara said.
Maj. Gen. Yasser Abdel Aziz of the Military Operations Authority said the operation would end when Sinai is free of “terrorists.”