Egypt's army announced on Sunday that it had killed 14 armed militants during a raid in several areas of North Sinai, bringing the total number of militant deaths during the past week to 40. In an official statement by the army, a spokesman said army and police forces were able to kill 14 terrorist militants through a series of raids targeting hideouts in several villages in the vicinity of Rafah and Sheikh Zuweid in North Sinai. The spokesman added that the security confrontations witnessed heavy gunfire between the forces and the terrorist elements who took shelter in buildings and farming areas. He said that the forces were able to destroy areas that the elements were using to hide and prepare their operations, as well as detonating 10 improvised explosive devices (IEDs) and a four wheeled armoured van and other vehicles used by them. According to the statement, the law enforcement forces were bolstering their control through enforcing a tight security cordon to stop the infiltration of the trapped terrorist elements in the vicinity of the areas. This is the latest statement that the army has released on their ongoing new operations in North Sinai. Egypt's army launched a new security campaign two weeks ago against Islamist militants in the governorate, killing over 50 in response to a militant attack three weeks ago that killed 12 soldiers and injured six others. Over the past week, the army announced it has killed an overall number of 26 militants leading up to Sunday during raids on different weekdays. In mid-October, Egypt's President Abdel-Fattah El-Sisi extended a state of emergency in designated areas of the North Sinai governorate for three months, starting 31 October. The Egyptian army and police have been battling an entrenched Islamist insurgency for several years in North Sinai, with the governorate witnessing renewed state of emergency decisions in designated areas since the spike of the battles in August 2013.
