Egypt's army kills 16 highly dangerous terrorists in Central Sinai

CAIRO - 11 March 2018: The Egyptian Military destroyed nine terrorist targets in Sinai, killing 16 takfiri elements were killed in a shootout with the Armed Forces, and three individuals were arrested in Central Sinai, according to military statements on Sunday.

Egypt's military has launched a full-scale military operation since February 9 against terrorists in the peninsula.

Engineered hideouts, in which many automatic rifles, light machine guns and ammunitions were found, were destroyed. The hideouts, which are deep within the crooks of Sinai’s desert, were found through the real citizens of Sinai.

Underground warehouses were discovered in the operations sector in Sinai with 34 locust, cornet and pyramidal missiles, four RPGs and a huge amount of C4 explosive materials.

To reach those underground warehouses, Armed Forces personnel had to dig for extensive periods, whilst also relying on intel, to find them. The way that the weapons found were stored suggests that there are not simply amateurs, who do not know what they are doing, they have been trained and know how to hide their weapons.

Tunnels were also brilliantly engineered, suggesting that funding is extended extensively to these terrorist elements.

A warehouse and factory for improvised explosive devices (IED) in Sinai's Sheikh Zuweid were detected and destroyed; the warehouse and factory contained 70 anti-personnel devices, 60 hand grenades and 200 detonators.



Military engineers discovered and destroyed a tunnel under one of the houses, and detonated explosive devices that were planted to target the Armed Forces.
In the area of the operation, 285 hideouts with many weapons, ammunition, books that assert the takfiri ideology and media centers were found.

The opening of an underground tunnel was also found in one of the houses on the border. The opening was strategically located to ensure that they are able to reach their targets, however, these opening have now been destroyed by our heroic Armed Forces.

In addition, six cars and 32 unlicensed motorcycles were destroyed.
The statement further remarked that six plantations of bango and narcotics were found and more than 4,680 kilograms of drugs prepared for circulation were seized.

Deep caves and tunnels were used to house books that call for extremism, cars and many weapons. The caves, as one would expect, are deep and have much space due to their strategic location in the Sinai desert. Their depth made the job more difficult for our Armed Forces, however, this did not stop them from going in, finding the weapons and the equipment that these terrorist elements use to cause terror and destroy and/or seize them.

The Marine Forces have continued to detect ships in cooperation with the Interior Ministry’s concerned agencies, and seized a trade ship in the Alexandria port with 3.5 tons of cannabis.

Furthermore, the Border Guard Forces, in cooperation with the Air Forces, seized and destroyed five four-wheel-drive vehicles while attempting to penetrate Egypt.

The statement reiterated that the state agencies provide the basic needs of citizens in Central and Northern Sinai, and cooperate with the Ministry of Supply to open many retail outlets for goods and living needs with low prices.

While fighting to protect the people of Sinai, the Armed Forces also organised food convoys to the people of the area, as well as many subsidised foods for them to buy. This highlights how the Armed Forces do not just fight strategic wars and battles to save and protect civilians, it also works on the development of Egypt and the social protection of civilians.

The statement concluded that one non-commissioned officer and a conscript were martyred. In addition, an officer and four conscripts were injured while fighting the terrorists.