Alwaght- Egypt’s army said on Saturday it killed seven terrorists in north and central Sinai and arrested 408 suspected or wanted criminal elements as Comprehensive Operation Sinai 2018 continues into its ninth day.
In the ninth communique since the counter-terrorism campaign was launched last Friday, the army said the air forces destroyed eight terrorist targets, killing three takfiris and destroying a 4x4 wheeler carrying a half-inch submachine gun.
The Arabic word takfiri refers to hardline Wahhabis who accuse other Muslims of being infidels, often as a justification for using violence against them.
The army said forces also raided a dangerous terrorist hotspot, killing four of the armed takfiri elements during a shootout, adding that the raid resulted in the confiscation of two machine guns and an improvised explosive device.
The statement said 408 suspected or wanted criminals were arrested and are being legally processed.
Operation Sinai 2018 was launched last Friday, involving land, naval and air forces, as well as the police and border guards, targeting "terrorist and criminal elements and organizations" in northern and central Sinai, as well as parts of the Nile Delta and the Western Desert.
Egypt has for years been battling a Wahhabi-Takfiri insurgency based in the northern part of the Sinai Peninsula that mainly targets security forces. The army said it has killed hundreds of militants in military operations there. Over the past few years, terrorists have been carrying out anti-government activities and fatal attacks, taking advantage of the turmoil in Egypt that erupted after the country’s first democratically-elected president, Mohamed Morsi, was ousted in a military coup in July 2013.
The Wilayat Sinai group, which is affiliated with the ISIS Takfiri terrorists, has claimed responsibility for most of the assaults.
