Alghadeer TV Alghadeer TV
Egyptian security forces have killed 83 suspected terrorists and arrested dozens of criminals in the restive North Sinai region during the past month, the army says.
According to a statement by the Egyptian Army on Monday, these suspected terrorists were killed in counter-terrorism operations in central and North Sinai between September 28 and November 4.
It did not mention the name of the terror group but the Velayat Sinai terror outfit, which pledged allegiance to the Daesh terrorist group in 2014, has claimed responsibility for most of the assaults across Egypt, particularly those in the Sinai region, where the group is based.
The statement, cited by local Ahram Online news outlet, further said that the security forces also manage to detain over 60 criminal suspects.
“Sixty-one wanted criminals and suspects were arrested,” it said, adding that “three army personnel were killed and injured during the operations against terrorist hideouts.”
The statement further said that during the same period, the Egyptian Air Forces destroyed 14 terrorist hideouts, 115 off-road vehicles, 33 cars, 93 motorcycles, two smuggling tunnels and 376 planted IEDs in the area of operations.
Over the past few years, terrorists have been carrying out anti-government activities and fatal attacks, taking advantage of the turmoil in Egypt that erupted after the country’s first democratically-elected president, Mohamed Morsi, was ousted in a military coup in July 2013.
The terror group, previously known as Ansar Beit al-Maqdis, has mainly attacked security forces in the restive region of the Sinai Peninsula since its inception in 2013. The terrorists have so far killed hundreds of members of security forces.
The Egyptian army in February last year launched a full-scale counterterrorism military campaign, dubbed “Sinai 2018,” on an order of President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi, after a terror attack in North Sinai claimed the lives of more than 300 people at a mosque.
The army says hundreds of suspected terrorists have been slain in the anti-terror campaign, which has also targeted militants elsewhere in the African country.
On Saturday and following the death of Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi, the Daesh leader, the Velayat Sinai terror outfit announced that it had sworn allegiance to the new leader named by Daesh.
