450 militants killed in Egypt Sinai offensive

CAIRO: The Egyptian army said Tuesday that 450 militants are estimated to have been killed in its eight-month offensive against the Islamic State group in the Sinai Peninsula.

The military launched a large-scale operation dubbed "Sinai 2018" in February to rid Sinai of IS militants after an attack on a mosque in the north of the peninsula that killed more than 300 people.

Since the start of the campaign, 450 militants were presumed to have been killed "in the north and the centre of Sinai by (soldiers) and police," army spokesperson Tamer al-Rifai told AFP.

According to army figures, around 30 soldiers have been killed during the operation.



Militants began an insurgency in Egypt after the 2013 ouster of far-right president Mohamed Morsi, who was forced out by the military in the face of mass protests against his rule and that of his Muslim Brotherhood.

The army on Tuesday rejected criticism from rights groups over the impact on civilians of its campaign in Sinai.

It says that people in the peninsula support its operation and receive humanitarian aid.

"All air strikes are carried out by the army outside residential areas," Rifai said on Tuesday.



Journalists are barred from going to areas targeted in the Sinai 2018 campaign, although the army organised a rare visit to the North Sinai capital El-Arish in July.

A countrywide state of emergency was imposed in April last year, following two suicide bombings at churches which were claimed by IS.

On Tuesday, President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi extended the measure by a further three months.