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EGYPT-INSURGENCY
Egypt army says 19 Islamic militants killed in Sinai
CAIRO, May 31, 2020 (BSS/AFP) – Egypt’s military said it had killed
19 militants in targeted ground and air operations as part of its
battle to quell a long-running Islamist insurgency in north Sinai.
Five soldiers were killed or wounded in the operations last week,
according to the online video statement Saturday, which did not
specify the number of military fatalities.
The video, replete with a dramatic score, said troops had killed
three “extremely dangerous” militants as well as 16 others in
precision airstrikes on their “terrorist hideouts”.
“Two officers, a non-commissioned officer and two soldiers were
killed and wounded in the operations”, the statement said.
Troops had recovered troves of automatic rifles, hand grenades and
rocket-propelled grenades in possession 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, who was replaced by President Abdel
Fattah al-Sisi.
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.
BSS/AFP/MRU/1759hrs