CAIRO, May 31, 2020 (BSS/AFP) – Egypt’s military said Saturday it killed 19
suspected militants in targeted ground and air operations as part of its
battle to quell a long-running insurgency in north Sinai.
In a video statement replete with a dramatic score released on its social
media, the army said troops killed three “extremely dangerous” militants as
well as 16 others in precision airstrikes on their “terrorist hideouts”.
Troops found troves of automatic rifles, hand grenades and rocket-propelled
grenades in posession of the militants, the army added.
Security forces have been battling a long-running Islamist insurgency in
the Sinai Peninsula — in Egypt’s northeast — that is spearheaded by a local
affiliate of the Islamic State group.
The fighting intensified after the military’s 2013 ouster of Islamist
president Mohamed Morsi.
In February 2018, authorities launched a nationwide operation against
militants, focused on north Sinai.
Around 970 suspected militants have been killed in the region along with
dozens of security personnel, according to official figures.