News / Egypt

Egyptian military kills 19 Daesh-linked militants in restive Sinai

Thursday, 20 April 2017 6:22 PM [ Last Update: Thursday, 20 April 2017 6:23 PM ]

Egyptian forces man a temporary checkpoint outside Sharm el-Sheikh airport. (File photo)

The Egyptian military says it has killed about 20 militants linked to the Daesh Takfiri terrorist group in the North African country’s restive Sinai Peninsula.

According to a military statement, at least 19 militants were killed after strikes targeted hideouts of a local affiliate of Daesh in northern and central Sinai on Thursday.

At least four vehicles were also destroyed as the Egyptian Air Force carried out raids on "terrorist strongholds" in the troubled region, it added.

The strikes come a day after Egyptian police killed one of the militants involved in an attack earlier this week on a checkpoint near Sinai's famed Saint Catherine's Monastery. A police officer was killed in the attack on the security forces. Daesh claimed the raid.

Read more:

Daesh attacks Egypt’s St. Catherine Monastery

Hundreds of security forces have been killed during the violent clashes with militants across the troubled region over the past months.

The Sinai Peninsula has been under a state of emergency since October 2014, following a deadly terrorist attack that left 33 Egyptian soldiers dead.

Over the past years, militants have been carrying out anti-government activities and fatal attacks, taking advantage of the turmoil caused in Egypt after the democratically-elected president, Mohamed Morsi, was ousted by the military in July 2013.

Velayat Sinai Takfiri terrorist group -- previously known as Ansar Beit al-Maqdis -- which pledged allegiance to Daesh in 2014, has been responsible for most of the attacks in the Sinai Peninsula as well as Cairo.

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