According to a military statement released on Sunday, security forces have killed at least 52 suspected militants and arrested dozens.
In the military’s official Facebook page, military spokesman Colonel Tamer El-Refaie shared photos of operations, which are still part of the Sinai 2018 campaign operations.
The ‘takfiris’ (conservative Sunni Muslims who consider other Muslims as infidels) or militants had been killed in different raids in northern and central Sinai. Others had been put down in Arish.
The raids have also lead to the arrest of 49 suspected militants as well as the discovery 26 hideout spaces.
In April, the Egyptian military reported that its forces killed a leader of Islamic State (IS), Naser Abou Zaqoul, in central Sinai.
Back in May, the Egyptian army killed 19 militants in another crackdown. In April and last month, two ‘major’ ISIS leader were killed by Egypt’s military forces.
Egypt’s aggressive military operation ‘Sinai 2018’ began on 9 February aiming to eliminate terrorism in the province, which has been troubled by an Islamist militant insurgency since 2013. The city of Arish has been particularly affected, namely the small Coptic Christian community which has largely left to other parts of Egypt.
North and central Sinai are still deemed too unsafe for tourists; the south, however, is a particularly popular tourist spot which many international and local travelers who enjoy taking to Dahab, Nuweiba and Taba for diving and snorkeling.
Comments (4)
[…] that Egyptian military forces have been combating terrorist elements and extremist at the North of Sinai for the last years. As such, Northern Sinai is considered a closed military […]
[…] including the IS-affiliated groups in North Sinai, have mainly focused their attacks on security forces as a result of the ongoing conflict in the […]