30 militants killed in Egypt's Sinai

By Feyula Fehmi

CAIRO (AA) – An Egyptian airstrike killed more than two dozen militants in the Sinai Peninsula, the army said Saturday.

The 30 militants were killed in airstrikes in "Arish, Sheikh Zuweid and Rafah in the northern Sinai peninsula", Egyptian military spokesman Col. Tamer al-Refaei said in a statement.

The airstrikes also destroyed 12 vehicles, including four rigged with bombs, according to the statement.

The Sinai Peninsula has remained the epicenter of a deadly militant insurgency since mid-2013, when Mohamed Morsi, Egypt’s first freely-elected president, was ousted in a military coup.

Hundreds of Egyptian security personnel have been since killed in attacks across the volatile region, particularly in northeastern Sinai that shares borders with Israel and the blockaded Gaza Strip.

Egyptian authorities say they are battling the Welayat Sinai, or Province of Sinai group, that is said to have links to the Daesh terror organization.