Egypt deploys armoured units to Sinai

CAIRO — Egypt's military deployed additional armoured units to Sinai and closed smuggling tunnels into Gaza as it stepped up efforts to rout militants following a bloody border attack that afforded President Mohamed Mursi a chance to revamp the country's security apparatus.

The operation, now in its third day, is the largest offensive by Egypt in the Sinai in decades. The military also used Apache attack helicopters during operations, state media reported.

Mursi, who had been struggling with myriad domestic challenges and a continuing power struggle with the military, used the Aug. 5 attack that left 16 soldiers dead to remove the acting intelligence chief. The governor of the area and the commander of the presidential guard were also fired. The decision to replace the acting chief of the general intelligence service was "revolutionary," Ahmed Maher, co- founder of the April 6 youth movement that played a key role in last year's uprising, said in an emailed statement. Mursi also ordered Defense Minister Mohamed Hussein Tantawi to appoint a new head of the military police. The head of the Interior Ministry's central security force — a paramilitary unit used for riot control — was also dismissed.

Prime Minister Hisham Qandil told reporters Wednesday that Hamas chief Ismail Haniyeh had called him and voiced his support for the crackdown in the Sinai.