Security forces foil terrorist attack on N. Sinai checkpoint

CAIRO - 7 June 2019: Security forces managed to foil a terrorist attack on a security checkpoint in North Sinai, a security source said on Friday.

The attack comes two days after an attack claimed by Islamic State killed eight police officers southwest of El-Arish.

Some militants fled the scene before security forces tracked down and killed 14 of them, the interior ministry said in a statement.

The attack took place on the day Egypt marked as the holiday of Eid al-Fitr.

President Sisi who has announced war against terrorism even before he assumed post as president in 2014, said in May that the "war against terrorism did not and will not end before we retaliate for every martyr who died for the sake of their homeland."

Since 2013, Egypt has witnessed numerous terrorist attacks, mainly by the Islamic State-affiliated Sinai Province militant group, which have led to the death of hundreds of policemen, army troops and civilians during attacks on security checkpoints, churches and recently a mosque.

In February 2018, under the title "Comprehensive Operation Sinai 2018", Egypt's Armed Forces launched an ongoing comprehensive military operation targeting the hotbeds of terrorists especially in Northern and Central Sinai.