16 militants killed in Egypt security operation

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Egypt's military announced on Sunday that 16 militants had been killed and 34 people arrested in a major security drive against Islamist insurgents blamed for a series of recent deadly attacks.

Raids were mainly conducted in Sinai, but also in the Nile Delta and the western desert, as part of a security operation launched on Friday, the army said in a statement carried on state TV.

North Sinai has been the center of terrorist attacks that have killed hundreds of policemen and soldiers following the military removal of former Islamist President Mohamed Morsi in July 2013 in response to mass protests.

Attacks later extended to several other provinces and the capital Cairo and started to target the Coptic minority via church bombings and shootings.

Following a mosque attack in November that killed more than 300 people, President Abdel-Fattah al-Sisi ordered the army to restore security and stability in North Sinai within three months.

On Sunday, the army's statement said, "The air force targeted and destroyed 66 targets used by terrorist elements to hide from air and artillery attacks, and to escape from their bases during raids."

A total of 16 militants were killed, and four militants were captured. Thirty other people suspected of links to militants were also detained for questioning.

Medical sources said Ismailia General Hospital early Sunday received the bodies of 10 militants killed in Sinai and that DNA samples were taken to identify them.

A video recording posted on social media – purportedly from Wilayat Sinai, a group affiliated with ISIL – meanwhile warned Egyptians against voting in next month’s presidential election, in which Sisi is widely expected to win, for a second term.

The video also urged Islamist militants to "destroy their day of polytheism, spill their blood, beginning with their leaders."

Egyptian security forces have so far killed hundreds of terrorists and arrested thousands of suspects during the country's anti-terror war declared by former army chief Sisi following Morsi's ouster in 2013.

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Source(s): Reuters ,Xinhua News Agency