The Interior Ministry broadcasted a video followed by a statement on an operation it carried out on Friday, killing 10 people in Al-Arish.
Those killed were reportedly perpetrators who conducted two deadly militant attacks targeting police checkpoints in the North Sinai city of Al-Arish. Those attacks had left eight security personnel and one civilian dead.
The Interior Ministry’s statement stipulated that security apparatuses received information on the involvement of a leading figure in “Ansar Beit Al-Maqdis”, known currently as “Sinai Province” in the attacks. The leading figure named Ahmed Yousef helps with the preparation and formation of several militant groups to target police and army checkpoints, according to the statement.
These militant groups are responsible for carrying out several attacks, in addition to the assassination of deputy officer of El-Qassima police station in central Sinai and the assassination of a police officer in Al-Arish.
Consequently, the prosecution permitted security apparatuses to impose strict monitoring of the targeted alleged militant groups.
According to the monitoring operations, those militant groups were moving from different apartments and abandoned places throughout the day, using code names to escape security pursuits.
“The monitoring operation also resulted in determining that those militants are hiding in an abandoned chalet near Al-Arish’s Fourth Police Station which they used it as a hideout from the police,” the statement read.
When the police forces approached the aforementioned chalet, the militants opened fire against them. This led to a prompt reaction from the forces, killing all the 10 militants inside the chalet.
“When the forces approached the chalet, the militants opened fire against them. A mutual shooting erupted and led to the death of the 10 militants, of which the police identified six, while the identity of the remaining four is still unknown,” the statement added.
The Interior Ministry included the names of the six identified alleged militants who were born between 1989 and 1997. Moreover, they are from the inhabitants of Al-Arish city. During inspections, the police also found weapons and explosives inside the targeted chalet.
“Forces managed to seize eight guns, a sub-machine gun, and a pistol, in addition to seven improvised explosive devices,” the statement concluded.
Meanwhile, the official army spokesperson released a statement on Friday in which he highlighted that army members from the Third Field Army managed to kill a militant and destroy an explosives store in cooperation with the air forces in North Sinai.
