Thirteen jihadists have been killed in clashes with army forces in the Sinai Peninsula in eastern Egypt, a spokesman for the armed forces has said.
For years, Egyptian forces have been trying to root out extremist Islamist groups operating in the northern Sinai Peninsula, particularly the Egyptian branch of the Islamic State (IS).
“As part of the armed forces’ efforts to fight terrorism in northern and central Sinai, 13 elements of the takfiri (Sunni extremist group) have been eliminated,” a spokesman for the Egyptian army said in a statement.
Nine Egyptian soldiers were “killed or wounded,” according to a statement from the General Staff spokesman.
It is not clear when or exactly where the operations were carried out, during which those whom the staff calls jihadists were killed.
According to the press release, 15 automatic rifles, ammunition, motorcycles, mobile phones, binoculars and large amounts of cash in various currencies were confiscated.
Jihadist attacks have multiplied in Egypt since ousted in 2013 by the army of former Islamist President-elect Mohamed Morsi.
Also Read
- He got out of the car and threw an ax at a female driver
- Shocking boxer: His newborn daughter was dead for three minutes
- 6 corpses found hanging on a bridge – SHOCKING IMAGES
Since February 2018, the army has been conducting large-scale operations against jihadists mainly in northern Sinai and the western desert of the country. More than a thousand jihadists and dozens of members of the security forces have been killed in Sinai, according to official figures. In August alone, more than 100 deaths were reported from alleged jihadists.
However, the reports made public by the army are impossible to verify from independent sources. Access to northern Sinai is still restricted to journalists.
Most Watched
