Egyptian army kills 40 terrorists in N Sinai

TIL Desk/World/Cairo/ At least 40 terrorists have been killed in air strikes carried out by the Egyptian army in the restive North Sinai province, military said today.  Forty militants were killed during air raids in the North Sinai cities of Al-Arish, Shiekh Zwayed and Rafah in the past seven days, army spokesperson Tamer el-Refae said in a statement.

Five militants were arrested during the raids. Twenty vehicles, four motorcycles and four car bombs were discovered and destroyed, the statement said. Fifty two shelters used by terrorists to hide, store medical needs and explosives were also destroyed, it said.

Egypt’s North Sinai has witnessed many terror attacks since the January 2011 revolution that toppled the ex- president Hosni Mubarak. The attacks mainly targeting police and military, increased after the ouster of Islamist ex-president Mohamed Morsi in 2013 by military following massive protests against his rule.

Hundreds of police and army personnel were killed since then. The military has launched security campaigns in the North Sinai area, in which some terrorists are based. The security forces have arrested suspects and demolished houses that belong to terrorists, including those facilitating tunnels leading to the Gaza Strip.