CAIRO: Egypt’s army said on Sunday at least 172 militants were killed in February in joint police and military operations in the restive Sinai where security forces are battling an Islamist insurgency.

The militants were killed in a series of security operations in the peninsula after a deadly Jan 29 attack by jihadists left 30 people dead, mostly soldiers.

The army said the militants were killed in the North Sinai cities of El-Arish, Sheikh Zuweid and in the town of Rafah that borders Israel and the Palestinian Gaza Strip.

Another 229 suspected jihadists were arrested in these operations, while 85 militant hideouts were destr­oyed last month, the army said in a statement accompanied by a picture of a suspected militant shot dead.

Egypt’s army has poured troops and armour into the region to fight an Islamist insurgency since the ouster of president Mohamed Morsi in July 2013.

Most attacks are spearheaded by Ansar Beit al-Maqdis, the Egyptian affiliate of the Islamic State jihadist group that has seized territory in Syria and Iraq.

Published in Dawn, March 2nd, 2015

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