Egypt’s security forces in North Sinai targeted seven terrorist hotbeds, killing eight highly dangerous terrorists and destroying two car bombs, armed forces spokesman Tamer al-Rifaei announced in a statement on his Facebook page on Wednesday.
In response to the increasing terrorist threat in North Sinai, Comprehensive Operation Sinai 2018 was launched on February 9, 2018 by different branches of the army, including the Second and Third Field Armies located in Sinai.
The operation aimed to implement a comprehensive plan of action against terrorist and criminal elements and organisations in North and Central Sinai, other parts of the Nile Delta, and desert areas west of the Nile Valley, according to an army statement released at the time.
Since 2014, North Sinai has witnessed a growing number of terrorist attacks carried out by IS in the Sinai Province, including various attacks against the army and the police. The increase in terrorism followed the ouster of former President Mohamed Morsi. Morsi’s party was affiliated with the Muslim Brotherhood, which Egypt subsequently banned as a terrorist group.
Edited translation from Al-Masry Al-Youm
