Egypt’s military and police forces have killed 19 militants and arrested 20 suspects, in a continuing crackdown in Sinai, the military said in a statement on Thursday.
Security forces launched a large-scale security operation in February to crush militants who have waged an insurgency that has killed hundreds of security forces and residents over many years.
At least 296 including 35 military personnel have been killed so far.
Militants in Sinai intensified their attacks after the ousting by President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi and the military in 2013 of Egypt’s first freely elected president, Mohamed Mursi of the Muslim Brotherhood
Defeating Islamists and restoring security after years of unrest that followed Egypt’s 2011 popular uprising has been a promise of Sisi, who was re-elected in March in a landslide victory against no real opposition.
Al-Sisi, on a visit to the Sinai last month, promised residents the operation would be finished “as soon as possible”.
