Egyptian army reports killing 40 suspected jihadists in Sinai

CAIRO — The Egyptian army says it has killed 40 suspected jihadist militants since September in air and ground operations in the Sinai region, site of an Islamist insurgency.

In a video statement posted on Facebook, the army says its air force had “managed to eliminate 25 takfiri elements… in the strategic northeastern region.”

Another 15 suspected Islamist militants had been killed “in special operations” since September, it says.

Egyptian security officials use the term “takfiri” to refer to extremist Islamist militants.

The army also says seven of its own personnel had been either wounded or killed, without specifying how many suffered injuries or died.

The operations also “resulted in the arrest of 12 other” suspected extremist fighters, the statement says without providing dates or places.

In addition, the army says it had destroyed 437 weapons caches, defused 159 improvised explosive devices, and confiscated dozens of other types of weapons.

Egyptian forces have for years fought the insurgency in the Sinai Peninsula, led mainly by the local branch of the Islamic State jihadist group.

Attacks there have multiplied since the army’s 2013 ouster of president Mohamed Morsi of the Muslim Brotherhood.

Since February 2018, the authorities have been conducting a nationwide operation against Islamist militants, mainly focused on the northern Sinai and the Western Desert.

About 970 suspected militants and dozens of security personnel have been killed in the Sinai, according to official figures.

No independently sourced death toll is available as the North Sinai is off-limits to journalists.

— AFP