On the 9th day of the full-scale military campaign in Sinai, Egyptian Armed Forces announced on Saturday that it killed seven militants, according to the army statement.
This raises the number of militant deaths to 60, according to army count.
The spokesperson praised the cooperation of the Sinai residents and their understanding attitude toward the nature of the full-scale operation, which included maximum security measures.
The large-scale operation comes as Egyptian authorities have been repeatedly promising to eliminate militants from the Sinai Peninsula.
Also, since the start of the operation on 9 February, as a precautionary measure, all Ministry of Interior forces have been placed on maximum alert nationwide.
Meanwhile, Egyptian Air Force prevented on Thursday an attempt to smuggle arms into the country through the joint western borders with Libya, according to a statement from army spokesperson Tamer Al-Refaei. Ten vehicles carrying arms and ammunitions were destroyed in the process, the statement read.
The military statement added that the operation was done with the assistance of the Military Intelligence and Reconnaissance Administration, which provided information about the suspects.
In November 2017, Al-Sisi vowed to restore stability by eradicating terrorism, placing the military and police in charge of completing the task within a period of three months. This had followed a massive first-of-its-kind terror attack on a mosque in Al-Arish city, killing at least 305 citizens.
Since 2013, state security forces, represented by both the military and the police, have been engaged in violent clashes with “Sinai Province”, a group previously known as Ansar Beit Al-Maqdis. In 2014, the group declared its affiliation with the Islamic State group and has launched deadly attacks on army and police checkpoints.
