11 soldiers killed in jihadist attack

WLThe highest toll recorded by the Egyptian forces in years. An army statement said 11 soldiers were killed and five wounded in an anti-terror operation. Soldiers “Continue to pursue and besiege the terrorists” in the fighting that has moved to an “isolated area in the Sinai”, Information from the same source.

In February 2018, the army and police launched a large-scale “anti-terror” operation in the Sinai Peninsula where extremist cells are raging, some of whom have pledged allegiance to the jihadist Islamic State (ISIS). They are also fighting extremist rebels in the Western Desert, between the Nile Valley and the border with Libya.

In the Sinai, attacks have focused in particular on one point: the oil and gas pipelines that supply Israel and Jordan. Regularly, the Egyptian army announces that it has killed jihadists in this area. In all, more than a thousand jihadists and dozens of members of the security forces were killed, according to official figures.

At the moment, there is no report from an independent source, and North Sinai Governorate is off-limits to journalists. The last major attack in Cairo dates back to May 2020, a month before Egypt hosts the Africa Cup of Nations (CAN2020) soccer tournament in Cairo. The attack that targeted the Giza pyramids, southwest of the capital, wounded 17 people

A year earlier, in August 2019, about 20 people were killed when a car packed with explosives collided with three other cars at high speed, causing a massive explosion. The following month, a policeman and seven members of a “terror cell” They were killed in an exchange of fire in Cairo. These jihadists were preparing, according to the authorities, to attack Christians during the Easter celebrations.