Egyptian army continues operation against Sinai terrorists

Operation which killed 9 terrorists on Saturday resumes south of Rafah; Security forces destroy 118 terror centers, arms caches.

By ARIEL BEN SOLOMON, REUTERS
Egyptian soldiers keep guard in Sinai 370 (photo credit: REUTERS)
Egyptian soldiers keep guard in Sinai 370
(photo credit: REUTERS)
The Egyptian army continued its operations against terrorists in Sinai on Sunday, according to the Egyptian daily Al-Youm al-Sabaa.
The paper quoted a military expert as saying that the army would soon eliminate all the terrorists and armed groups.
Witnesses confirmed to the Egyptian newspaper El-Watan that a new operation began early Sunday in areas south of Rafah.
Security forces destroyed 118 places used by terrorist elements along with three large arms caches, according to a report in Egypt’s Al- Shorouk on Sunday.
Two Egyptian soldiers were killed late on Saturday when an improvised explosive device detonated in a road in the North Sinai town of Sheikh Zuweid near the border with the Gaza Strip, security sources said.
This came after a major military operation earlier in the day that killed at least nine people, security officials reported.
An improvised hand grenade exploded at a police station in Cairo on Saturday but caused no injuries, Egyptian state television reported. Experts arrived at the police station in Bulaq El-Dakrum to search the area, state news agency MENA said.
Radical Islamists in the rugged desert region adjoining Israel, who expanded into a security vacuum left by the overthrow of Hosni Mubarak in 2011, have been staging almost daily assaults on security forces and other targets.
Dozens of tanks and armored vehicles backed by attack helicopters were used earlier in Saturday’s operation near Sheikh Zuweid, a few kilometers from the Gaza Strip, security sources said. The army said nine terrorists had been arrested.