Egyptian army airstrikes kill 25 militants in restive Sinai
Iran Press TV
Fri Feb 6, 2015 2:27PM
The Egyptian army has killed twenty-five al-Qaeda-affiliated militants during airborne attacks in the violence-plagued Sinai Peninsula of the North African country.
A security source said Egyptian AH-64 Apache attack helicopters on Friday pounded two houses in the town of Sheikh Zuweid, situated 334 kilometers (214 miles) northeast of the capital, Cairo.
The Ansar Bait al-Maqdis terrorists were planning attacks against Egyptian government forces. Some 20 other militants were also wounded in the airstrikes.
The development comes a week after Egyptian security officials said at least 44 people were killed and over 80 others injured after militants carried out attacks on army and police targets as well as an office of a daily newspaper in the strife-stricken Sinai Peninsula.
Ansar Bait al-Maqdis militant group claimed responsibility for the attacks.
On January 31, Egypt's President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi vowed to defeat militants fighting against government forces in the Sinai Peninsula.
He said his government is ready to brace for a long fight to defeat extremists, noting that the fight will be long but Egyptian forces will not give Sinai to the militants.
A state of emergency has been declared in the northern part of the Sinai Peninsula since a militant attack on an Egyptian army checkpoint killed more than 30 soldiers in October 2014.
The Egyptian military considers the Sinai Peninsula a safe haven for gunmen, who use the region as a base for their "acts of terror."
Ansar Bait al-Maqdis, which has pledged allegiance to the ISIL Takfiri terrorist group, has claimed responsibility for most of the attacks in the peninsula.
MP/KA/SS
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