Egypt bombs militants smuggling weapons from Libya
Egypt says a convoy of suspected militants smuggling weapons from neighboring Libya has been neutralized as the military steps up operations to hunt those behind a recent deadly attack on police forces in the southwest of the capital Cairo.
The Egyptian army spokesman, Tamer el-Rifai, said in a statement on Monday that eight vehicles were also destroyed in airstrikes on the country’s western border earlier in the day.
Rifai said the bombardment was part of operations to track down “terrorists” who killed 16 policemen in a high-profile attack in the region last week.
Security sources say more than 50 were killed when militants ambushed Egyptian police forces some 135 kilometers outside Cairo on Friday night. The attack sparked huge public anger in Egypt, with many questioning President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi’s success in fighting militants across Egypt.
Egypt’s Defense Ministry said on Monday that the anti-terror operation in the Western Desert, some 135 kilometers southwest of Cairo, began after security forces received tip-offs about militants “hiding, training, and preparing to carry out terrorist operations” in the area.
The Egyptian Air Force said the vehicles destroyed in the air raids were carrying "large quantities of weapons, ammunition and explosive material” for “a new infiltration attempt.” Another military statement said scores of militants were killed while traveling onboard the vehicles.
Sisi convened a high-profile security meeting Sunday to discuss last week’s ambush attack. He said the attack had failed to dent his government’s resolve to fight terrorists.
Various militant groups, including a branch of the Daesh Takfiri group, have been launching attacks on security forces and civilians since 2013 when Sisi, the then army chief, led a coup against then president Mohamed Morsi, which ousted him from power.
Many blame the current insurgency in Egypt on Sisi’s large-scale crackdown on dissent, including followers of Morsi’s Muslim Brotherhood movement.
Mass trials have been held for thousands of supporters of the Muslim Brotherhood, and hundreds have received death sentences or lengthy prison terms. Egypt outlawed the movement in 2014.
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