Sinai clashes leave 10 Egypt troops, 15 militants dead

By Mohamed Mahmoud

CAIRO (AA) - Ten Egyptian security personnel, including three army officers, were killed while carrying out a security operation in Egypt’s volatile Sinai Peninsula, an Egyptian army spokesman said Thursday.

“Our forces raided a terrorist outpost in central Sinai, which led to the killing of 15 Takfiris [extremists] and arrest of seven others,” army spokesman Tamer al-Refai said in a statement.

“While pursuing the terrorists, two army vehicles struck roadside bombs, leading to the martyrdom of three army officers and seven other military personnel,” al-Refai added.

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

In the almost four years since the coup, hundreds of Egyptian security personnel have been killed across the restive peninsula.

Egyptian security forces, meanwhile, continue to wage a fierce campaign -- involving elements of both the police and army -- against what they describe as Sinai-based "terrorist groups".

Egypt’s army-backed authorities say they are battling the Welayat Sinai ("Province of Sinai") group, which is alleged to have links with the Daesh terrorist group.