Egypt: Police neutralises 40 terrorists in separate raids

Egyptian police on Sunday neutralised 40 terrorists in separate raids. Notably, this comes at least two days after a roadside bomb near the Giza pyramids killed three Vietnamese tourists and their guide.

In a statement, the interior ministry of Egypt said, “Two raids in the Giza governorate killed 30 terrorists while the remaining 10 were killed in the restive North Sinai.” It further said that authorities acted after receiving information the suspects were preparing a series of attacks against state and tourist institutions and churches.

The interior ministry further said, “Information was received by the national security that a group of terrorists were planning to carry out a series of aggressive attacks targeting state institutions, particularly economic ones, as well as tourism, armed forces, police and Christian places of worship.”

“Police acting upon this information carried out simultaneous raids in the Giza governorate and in North Sinai, killing a total of 40 terrorists,” it added. Police also found a large number of weapons and ammunition as well as bomb-making materials, the interior ministry noted.

Early on Friday evening, a roadside bomb blast hit a tourist bus travelling near the Giza pyramids killing three Vietnamese holidaymakers and their Egyptian tour guide, officials said.

It is to be noted that the Egyptian military launched a large-scale operation called as “Sinai 2018” in February to rid the Sinai Peninsula of ISIS terrorists after an attack on a mosque in the north of the peninsula killed more than 300 people.

Since the start of the campaign, 450 terrorists were presumed to have been killed in the north and the centre of Sinai by (soldiers) and police. According to army figures, around 30 soldiers have been killed in the operation.

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