Police kills takfiris planning for attacks in ‘Rabaa’ dispersal anniv

CAIRO – 11 July 2018: Security forces managed to eliminate 11 takfiri elements after fire exchange, while raiding a terrorist hideout in Al-Arish’s Omran district, according to security sources.

Following the raid, the security forces could seize three machine guns, a cartridge firearm and two explosive devices possessed by the takfiris, according to the sources.

The investigations revealed that the terrorists had planned targeting state institutions and carrying out destructive attacks on the occasion of the fifth anniversary of Rabaa Al-Adaweya and Al-Nahda sit-ins dispersal.

The protestors who backed ousted Muslim Brotherhood affiliated President Mohamed Morsi were dispersed on August, 14, 2013, as the security forces said that some protestors were armed. The dispersal of the two protests caused the death of tens of policemen and hundreds of Morsi supporters, according to reports. The two parties hold each other responsible for the violence.

According to the security source, the eliminated terrorists had contacted a number of terrorist leaders outside the country, who funded them to buy weapons and explosives.

Arish, the largest city in North Sinai, has witnessed numerous terrorist attacks since Morsi's ousting in 2013, which led to the death of hundreds of citizens, security personnel and army men.

In November, 2017, 311 Muslim worshippers were reported killed during Friday prayers, when a group of takfiri elements stormed Al-Rawdah mosque in Al-Arish, and opened fire on worshippers. The incident has been reported as Egypt’s deadliest terrorist attack in modern history.

President Abdel Fatah al-Sisi announced that Egypt would face terrorism with “brutal force”, placing terrorism combat on top of his priorities during his first and second terms.

In February 2018, army spokesman Tamer el-Refae announced in a strongly worded televised statement that the military and police forces initiated Comprehensive Operation Sinai 2018.

The operation involved land, naval and air forces, as well as the police and border guards, targeting "terrorist and criminal elements and organizations" in North and Central Sinai, as well as parts of the Nile Delta and the Western Desert along the porous border with Libya, strongholds of a persistent Islamic State (IS) group insurgency that has resulted in the deaths of hundreds of Egyptian soldiers and policemen.

During the ongoing military operation, Army and security forces managed to eliminate dozens of takfiri elements, seize a number of explosive devices, weapons and ammunition, and damage cannabis farms besides other accomplishments, according to the consecutive army statements released.