172 militants killed in Egypt's Sinai in February: Army

Iran Press TV

Sun Mar 1, 2015 9:59PM

The Egyptian army says at least 172 militants are killed in joint police and military operations in the volatile Sinai Peninsula in February.

The North Sinai towns of Sheikh Zuweid and Rafah as well as the city of el-Arish were among the locations, where the casualties were recorded last month, the army said in a statement released on Sunday.

The army's operations in the violence-stricken region also led to the arrest of 229 suspected militants and the destruction of 85 militant hideouts in February, the statement added.

A state of emergency has been declared in the northern part of the Sinai Peninsula since October last year, when a militant attack on an Egyptian army checkpoint killed more than 30 soldiers.

The peninsula has long been considered a safe haven for gunmen who use the region as a base for their acts of terror.

Since the ouster of former President Mohamed Morsi in July 2013, gunmen have launched terrorist attacks in Sinai, killing members of Egypt's security forces.

Ansar Bait al-Maqdis, an al-Qaeda-affiliated militant group, has claimed responsibility for most of the attacks in the region. The group has recently pledged allegiance to the ISIL Takfiri terrorist group and changed its name to Velayat Sinai.

SSM/NT/AS