Egyptian security forces have gunned down at least 10 Å“terrorist” armed men and rounded up 20 during a 48-hour military operation in the Sinai Peninsula, reports say.
“Security operations carried out by the armed forces and police in north Sinai to hunt down armed terrorists… (resulted) in the liquidation of 10 of these armed terrorist elements,” state news agency MENA quoted a security source as saying on Sunday.
It further added that Egyptâ„¢s security forces have managed to arrest 20 of the gunmen.
The Sinai Peninsula, which borders Israel, has been witnessing a surge in clashes between unknown gunmen and the Egyptian forces since the ouster of democratically elected President Mohamed Morsi following a military coup early in July.
On July 25, two Egyptian soldiers were killed in a terrorist attack on a military checkpoint near the town of Sheikh Zuweid, in the troubled area.
Unidentified assailants attacked a military checkpoint and a vehicle belonging to the army in the town of El-Arish, the capital and the largest city of North Sinai, a day earlier.
On July 13, security officials announced that the terrorist gunmen attacked El Arish International Airport with rocket-propelled grenades.
Egypt has been the scene of increasing violence since the army chief General Abdel Fattah al-Sisi pushed aside President Mohamed Morsi and suspended the constitution on July 3.
On July 4, al-Sisi declared that the head of the Supreme Constitutional Court, Adly Mansour, had been appointed as the new interim president of Egypt.
MM/PR
Republished from: Press TV