A file photo of Egyptian troops in North Sinai, Egypt (by Reuters)
The Egyptian army has fended off a militant attack on a post in Egypts North Sinai Province, killing 18 militants.
The army announced on Tuesday that it killed the terrorists as its forces thwarted a major terrorist attack on a military outpost in the Bir al-Abed area of the province.
The army said two soldiers were killed and four others were wounded by the terrorists in the attack.
One of the attackers was wearing an explosive belt.
The army also destroyed four vehicles, three of them laden with explosives, while chasing the militants in a farm and some uninhabited buildings.
Since the ouster of democratically-elected president Mohamed Morsi in July 2013, hundreds of police and soldiers have been killed in attacks by militants.
The Velayat Sinai group, which is affiliated with Daesh, has claimed responsibility for most of those attacks.
In recent years, the Egyptian armed forces have been making efforts to eradicate the militants holed up in hideouts in the north of the Sinai Peninsula.
In February 2018, the Egyptian army launched a full-scale counterterrorism operation after a terrorist attack on a mosque in North Sinai claimed the lives of more than 300 people.
Since then, over 840 suspected militants have been killed in the region, according to army figures. More than 60 government forces have also died.
LINK: https://www.ansarpress.com/english/19541
TAGS:
online news tv
