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Egyptian soldiers kill 10 militants in restive Sinai Peninsula

Egyptian army forces patrol a street in the North Sinai border town of Rafah, November 4, 2014. (© AFP)

Egyptian government forces have carried out a series of operations in the violence-plagued Sinai Peninsula, killing nearly a dozen Takfiri militants there.

A security source, speaking on condition of anonymity, said the forces launched offensives against militants, in the town of Sheikh Zuweid, located about 334 kilometers (207 miles) northeast of the capital, Cairo, the city of el-Arish, situated 344 kilometers (214 miles) northeast of the capital, and the border town of Rafah, located 340 kilometers (211 miles) east of Cairo, on Friday.

The source added that 10 militants were killed and 11 others captured during the operations.

On August 9, an Egyptian police captain and a conscript lost their lives when a roadside bomb explosion ripped through their vehicle in el-Arish. Three others also sustained injuries in the act of terror.

According to police accounts, the explosive device used in the attack was detonated by remote control as the police vehicle passed by.

Earlier this month, a senior commander of Velayat Sinai militants, previously known as Ansar Bait al-Maqdis, was killed during an encounter with Egyptian army troops in the town of Sheikh Zuweid.

The shootout erupted after the militant commander, identified as Selim Suleiman al-Haram, refused to turn himself in to the soldiers that had surrounded his house.

The Egyptian military views the Sinai Peninsula as a sanctuary for extremists, who use the volatile region as a safe haven.

Velayat Sinai terrorists have claimed responsibility for most of the attacks in the Sinai Peninsula. Last November, the group pledged allegiance to the Daesh terrorist group, which is wreaking havoc primarily in Iraq and neighboring Syria.


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