Terror attack on Army Camp in Sinai foiled: Army Spox

CAIRO – 14 April 2018: The Armed Forces foiled a major terrorist attack, which occurred at the early hours of Saturday in central Sinai, Military Spokesperson Tamer el-Refae announced.

A group of 14 terrorist elements, four of which were carrying automatic and medium-caliber rifles attempted to break into an armed forces camp.

Having been strapped with explosives, the four terrorist elements blew themselves up near the camp, which led to the killing of eight armed forces officers.

Egypt extended its nationwide state of emergency for three months as of April 14, according to the official gazette.

Sinai 2018 is being carried out by the Armed Forces, in cooperation with the combat units of the Interior Ministry, since Feb. 9. These anti-terror units continue to launch raids targeting terrorist hideouts, as well as arms and ammunition warehouses in Northern and Central Sinai, according to the statement.

Since the ousting of ex-Muslim Brotherhood-affiliated President Mohamed Morsi, Egypt has seen growing waves of extremism washing over the society and spawning numerous deadly attacks. Among these attacks was the terrorist attack that hit Al-Rawdah Mosque and left more than 302 Friday prayers congregates dead in late November 2017.

A month earlier, the Interior Ministry announced that 16 security officers were killed during clashes with militants in Wahat in the Western Desert; the clashes also led to the killing of 15 militants.