The Egyptian army killed two suspected jihadists in the north of the Sinai Peninsula. An army spokesman said the suspects died in a shootout yesterday. Weapons, ammunition and radio devices were secured.
According to the army, ten soldiers were killed or injured in an explosive near the city of Bir al-Abd on Thursday in the region. The jihadist militia Islamic State (IS) claimed the attack on an armored vehicle in its propaganda organ Amaq. Egyptian President Abdel Fatah al-Sisi expressed his sympathy to the relatives of the victims in the short message service Twitter. There was no further information on the victims.
On the Sinai Peninsula, jihadists, in particular the Islamic State (IS) militia, are fighting against the Egyptian security forces. The army launched the „Sinai 2018“ offensive in February 2018 to drive the IS militia off the peninsula. According to the army, more than 800 jihadists and almost 70 soldiers have been killed since then. However, there are no independent numbers. The region is hardly accessible to journalists.
