Egyptian air force kills 20 militants after blast
Egyptian officials said at least 20 militants were killed in an air strike in the restive northern Sinai Peninsula.
The air force hit more than 100 mountainous hideouts used by the militants near the city of El Arish and the small town of Bir Al Abd late on Friday.
The strikes came after a suicide bomber killed a soldier and a civilian on Thursday in the Sinai town of Sheikh Zuweid. ISIS said a militant named Abu Omar El Seedy detonated his explosive-laden vest near a military checkpoint at dawn on Thursday.
Egyptian security officials said the bomber targeted an armoured vehicle near the local market of Sheikh Zuweid. They said three other soldiers were wounded.
A day earlier, militants beheaded four people and kidnapped a fifth in Bir Al Abd after accusing them of co-operating with the security services. A group tied to ISIS claimed responsibility for both attacks.
The military has been battling a bloody insurgency in the desert peninsula for several years but in 2018, the government announced a large-scale offensive.
The move has degraded the ability of the extremist groups to launch attacks into the rest of the country but they still pose a threat.
The militants regularly carry out hit-and-run attacks on security checkpoints.
Due to the remote, rugged landscape, it can take too long for air support units or reinforcements to arrive. In previous attacks, entire units stationed at desert bases have been overrun.
The hardline groups have regularly targeted tourists and Christians.
ISIS has vowed to target Egypt’s Christians, in part as punishment for the Church’s support of President Abdel Fattah El Sisi who, as defence minister, led the military’s 2013 intervention to remove Mohammed Morsi amid mass protests against his one-year divisive rule.
The attacks against Christians have led to tighter security for places of worship and church-linked facilities, such as metal detectors at their gates and armed guards.
The offensive launched last year has succeeded in denying the militants control over significant areas of territory but has not completely stopped the attacks.