Egypt’s Ministry of Interior announced, on Monday, that its security forces have neutralised three terrorists involved in the killing of a Christian man in North Sinai.
The ministry said that the three terrorists, who were involved in the killing of Nabil El-Habashy, were killed in an exchange of fire with security forces in North Sinai.
They were also planning to execute a number of hostile acts targeting Christian citizens, their properties, and their places of worship, the statement added.
The ministry said that the information on these high-risk elements was received by the National Security Sector. It pointed out that the results of the monitoring showed the movement of three elements while using a white car to carry out a new hostile operation.
At the beginning of the operation, the police faced heavy gunfire from the elements once they noticed the police presence. The security forces later killed the three elements and detonated an explosive belt one of them was wearing, according to the statement.
Three automatic rifles, an explosive belt, a grenade, and ammunition were found with the terrorists, the statement said.
It added that the security forces are pursuing other terrorists involved in El-Habashy’s killing, including Gehad Ouda, Ahmed Shahata, and Khaled Hussein.
Two dead terrorists were identified, with one of them being named as Mohamed Salem Zeyada, aka Ammar, a highly dangerous terrorist, the statement said.
It added that Ammar had planned and executed many terrorist incidents in North Sinai, and was in charge of securing logistic support for the elements.
The second terrorist was named as Youssef Ibrahim Salim, aka Abu Mohamed, who took part in many terrorist operations and assisted Ammar in securing logistic support.
The Ministry of Interior’s statement came one day after the Islamic State (IS) terrorist group released a video showing three terrorists shooting an elderly Christian man in the head. An IS speaker in the video said they executed the man, identified as El-Habashy, in North Sinai’s Bir El-Abd, due to his cooperation with the Egyptian army.
