Military kills 18 terrorist at Jabal al-Halal, arrests 32 others

CAIRO - 03 May 2017: Forces of Third Field Army killed 18 militants in Jabal al-Halal (Halal Mountain) in mid-Sinai, arrested 32 others, Commander of Third Field Army, Chief of Staff Mohamed Raafat el-Desh stated Wednesday.

The army has besieged the mountain for six days, according to Raafat, which led to eliminating the powers of terrorists who took the mountain as base to launch their terrorist operation in Sinai Peninsula.

“Jabal al-Halal operation was implemented through three phases, first we collected information from all security apparatuses, and by the help of Sinai residents,” Raafat said in press statements on Wednesday, “We besieged the mountain for six days to cut off all supplies of terrorists, then we divided the mountain to slices, and every commander attacked a slice.”

Jabal al-Halal is located in mountainous areas with rugged terrain, making it a perfect hotbed to terrorists and Takfiri elements, according to Raafat.

The restless peninsula witnesses harsh crackdown of armed forces on militias. Since the ouster of Muslim Brotherhood President Mohamed Morsi North Sinai had been base of terrorist attacks across the nation, especially against security forces.