Cairo – Egypt’s military on Monday said that 46 militants and three soldiers were killed in shoot-outs in the Sinai where the country is battling an militants.
“Forty-six very dangerous terrorist elements have been eliminated in exchange of fire in North and Central Sinai,” the armed forces spokesman said in a statement.
The statement added that 100 suspected criminals were arrested in the operations, without giving a time-frame.
It added that 204 explosive devices and a number of hideouts containing weapons, ammunitions and highly explosive materials were detected and destroyed.
The forces have destroyed 10 tunnels on the border with the Gaza Strip and seized a number of RPGs and mortar shells, it said.
“As a result of the combating operations, three soldiers have been martyred during clashes and the cleansing of terrorist hotbeds,” it said.
In 2018, Egypt started a major security operation in Northern Sinai – a hotbed of militants – and elsewhere in the country.
Egypt has seen a spate of attacks mainly against security forces since the army’s 2013 overthrow of Islamist President Mohammed Morsi.