43 suspected militants killed in operations in North Sinai in past week - military spokesman

Sunday 22-03-2015 03:52 PM
43 suspected militants killed in operations in North Sinai in past week - military spokesman

An Egyptian soldier guards the border between Egypt and southern Gaza Strip September 16, 2013. REUTERS/Ibraheem Abu Mustafa

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CAIRO, Mar 22 (Aswat Masriya) - Military operations carried out by Egypt's armed forces in North Sinai over the past week have left 43 suspected militants dead, the army said in a statement on Sunday. 

Armed forces Spokesman Mohamed Samir described the people killed as "terrorists", adding that they were killed in gunfire exchange, in attempted attacks on security checkpoints and in aerial bombardment and targeting by helicopter fire.

Samir said the operations were carried out in North Sinai's al-Arish, Rafah and Sheikh Zuweid cities.  

The spokesman said five wanted individuals and 82 suspects were arrested during the past week.

He added that 16 headquarters and meeting points used "by the terrorists" were destroyed.

Samir has recently been issuing weekly statements  on the results of military campaigns in North Sinai. 

Militancy inside Egypt has seen a significant rise since July 2013, with most attacks targeting security forces in the north of the Sinai peninsula. 

Amid intensified campaigns to fight the insurgency, especially in North Sinai, 115 suspected militants were killed in the first two weeks of March, according to the armed forces spokesman's announcements.  

In February, the military said it killed 173 people, whom it also described as "terrorists".

(This story has been corrected to show that 43 were killed in operations, instead of 45, which was stated earlier. The change is based on an edit made to the statement by the armed forces spokesman, on his Facebook page.)

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