Cairo: Militants wearing explosive belts blew themselves up as they tried to infiltrate a military base in Egypt’s central Sinai, killing eight soldiers and wounding 15 others, the military said on Saturday.
The clashes at dawn left 14 militants dead. They were armed with rifles and RPGs, the armed forces said in a statement. The attack comes two months after the launch of a massive operation against militants in Sinai as well as parts of Egypt’s Nile Delta and Western Desert, along the porous border with Libya.
There was no immediate claim of responsibility for the attack which bore the hallmarks of the extremist Daesh group, whose local affiliate is spearheading an extremist insurgency in Egypt’s Sinai Peninsula.
In an earlier statement, the army said security forces killed 27 militants including six in airstrikes part of its offensive in turbulent Sinai region. It also said that troops arrested 114 suspected militants, including 21 wanted criminals.
The figures provided by the military could not be independently verified as media access to the northern Sinai is heavily restricted.
Egypt has for years been struggling to contain the militant insurgency in the turbulent Sinai region. It has carried out military operations there that, it says, have killed hundreds of militants.
It has also built a buffer zone along the border with Gaza to curb the flow of militants and weapons through a vast tunnel network. The insurgency, however, has shown no signs of abating.
Egypt says 8 troops killed, 15 wounded in Sinai clashes
Egypt says 8 troops killed, 15 wounded in Sinai clashes
- Militants blew themselves up trying to infiltrate a military base in Sinai
- Eight soldiers were killed and 15 wounded in the atack
Israel orders removal of electricity network, destroys Palestinian houses in West Bank
- The notice demonstrates Israel’s continued efforts to tighten its control over the residents of Idhna, the mayor said
- Israeli forces demolished two homes belonging to the Qabha family in the Khor Al-Dabaa neighborhood of Bartaa in Jenin
LONDON: Israeli authorities informed Palestinian residents of Idhna village, located west of Hebron, about a plan to remove the electricity network in the area as the Israeli government intends to strengthen control in the occupied West Bank.
Jaber Tmaizi, the mayor of Idhna, said that Israeli troops issued a notice demanding the removal of an electricity network that supplies Bir Al-Balouta area, located west of the town.
He added that this notice demonstrates Israel’s continued efforts to tighten its control over the residents of Idhna, aiming to displace them closer to the separation wall to expand the Adora settlement nearby.
On Tuesday, the Energy Minister Eli Cohen said that recent measures adopted by the government that deepen Israeli control in the occupied West Bank amounted to implementing “de facto sovereignty.”
Cohen said that steps “actually establish a fact on the ground that there will not be a Palestinian state.”
Palestinians, Arab countries, and human rights groups have described the moves announced on Sunday as an annexation of the territory, which is home to approximately 3.4 million Palestinians who aspire to use it for a future state.
On Tuesday, Israeli forces demolished two homes belonging to the Qabha family in the Khor Al-Dabaa neighborhood of Bartaa, which is located in Jenin in the northern West Bank. The demolition was carried out under the pretext that the houses were built without the necessary construction permits.
Earlier this year, Israeli forces also demolished four homes in Bartaa, again citing the absence of permits as the reason for the demolitions.
