The army says an officer and 10 troopers killed as they tried to foil an assault on a water-lifting station by armed fighters.
No less than 11 members of the Egyptian army, together with an officer, have been killed in an armed assault on the Sinai Peninsula, a military spokesman has stated, including that the safety forces “foiled a terrorist assault” on a water-lifting station east of the Suez Canal.
5 safety personnel had been additionally injured within the assault. “The terrorist components are being chased and besieged in one of many remoted areas in Sinai,” the spokesman added in a press release on Saturday.
President Abdel Fattah el-Sissi mourned the loss of life of the troops, vowing in a Fb publish to proceed combating the rebels and “uprooting terrorism.”
The army gave no additional particulars or the assault’s exact location, however two northern Sinai residents instructed Related Press the assault came about within the city of Qantara within the province of Ismailia, which stretches eastwards from the Suez Canal.
No group claimed duty for Saturday’s ambush, one of many deadliest assaults towards Egyptian safety forces in recent times.
Final week, suspected fighters blew up a pure gasoline pipeline in northern Sinai’s city of Bir al-Abd, inflicting a fireplace however no casualties.
Egypt has been battling armed teams loyal to ISIL (ISIS) within the Sinai Peninsula which intensified after the army overthrew the Muslim Brotherhood chief Mohamed Morsi – the nation’s first democratically-elected president – in 2012.
The first focus of armed assaults
In August, the military stated 13 fighters had been killed and 9 of its troopers had been “killed or wounded” throughout clashes in Sinai, with out indicating when the combating had taken place.
In recent times, pipelines carrying Egyptian oil and gasoline to neighbouring Israel and Jordan have been the first focus of armed assaults.
In November, Egypt agreed with Israel to spice up its troop numbers across the border city of Rafah with a view to quell armed teams.
The tempo of armed assaults in Sinai and elsewhere has slowed to a trickle since February 2018, when the army launched an enormous operation within the area in addition to elements of the Nile Delta and deserts alongside the nation’s western border with Libya.
Greater than 1,000 suspected fighters and dozens of safety personnel have been killed for the reason that begin of operations, in line with official figures.
The battle towards armed teams in Sinai has largely taken place hidden from the general public eye, with journalists, non-residents and out of doors observers barred from the world.
The battle has additionally been saved at a distance from vacationer resorts on the southern finish of the peninsula.
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