In the past two days 10 alleged ‘takfiris’ (extremist jihadis) have been killed and 54 have been arrested, announced military spokesperson Mohamed Samir Saturday on his Facebook page.Samir added that operations were conducted in North Sinai, along with other two governorates including Ismailia and Dakahlia, against a number of “terrorists” who have previously attacked the armed forces and police.
Sky News reported Saturday that three members of Ansar Bayt al-Maqdis were killed in an army operation in Arish.
The military announced Thursday there was an attack on the navy off the coast of Damietta, as one unit was patrolling the shore, but the Navy arrested 32 alleged terrorists and destroyed four of their boats.
The military has amped up security operations in the Sinai since the Oct. 24 attack that killed 31 soldiers and injured dozens more in North Sinai.
The security situation in the Sinai began to deteriorate following the dispersal of the pro-Muslim Brotherhood sit-ins at Rabaa al-Adaweya and Nahda squares. Ansar Bayt al-Maqdis, which pledged allegiance to the Islamic State group in an audio released on YouTube Sunday Nov. 9, has claimed responsibility for a number of attacks against security forces, and recently announced it is now the “State of the Sinai.”
