Egypt's armed forces said early on Saturday that the air force has continued conducting "intensive air strikes against terrorist targets and gatherings monitored earlier in Central and North Sinai." In a third communique on the "comprehensive" Operation Sinai 2018, which was launched Friday, armed forces spokesman Tamer El-Refaie said the robust strikes targeted weaponry, ammunition, and explosives warehouses, and logistical support, with the air forces continuing to secure air space strategically over border areas El-Refaie said that law-enforcement units, supported by special forces and border guards, have carried out several simultaneous raids on towns in Central and Northern Sinai to pursue fugitive elements, eradicate them, and continue to demolish targets belonging to terrorists. Operation Sinai 2018 (Snapshot from video released by the Egyptian Army) The navy is also tightening control on the seafront from Rafah to western Al-Arish, to cut supply lines for terrorists, while maintaining security of economic installations in the area. He added that navy units are conducting patrols to secure the coast from Marsa Matrouh to Salloum along the wester Mediterranean shores in cooperation with the border guards who are securing southern and western border areas. Operation Sinai 2018 (Snapshot from video released by the Egyptian Army) Border guards and other forces are carrying out missions to secure navigation in the Suez Canal and thwart attempts of terrorists to escape. Forces are also executing operations to track terrorists in the Western Desert's Wahat and other areas in Upper Egypt governorates. According to Refaie, police forces are conducting combing operation in all residential areas in Central and North Sinai, setting up checkpoints on local roads in cooperation with armed forces. “The armed forces and police stressed their persistence to eradicate the roots of terrorism and achieve security and stability for the great Egyptian people,“ the statement added. Operation Sinai 2018 was launched Friday, “to implement the plan of comprehensive confrontation of terrorist and criminal elements and organisations in North and Central Sinai and other areas in the Nile Delta and the desert areas west of the Nile Valley." Egypt's interior ministry raised the country's security alert level to its highest level nationwide, in light of the anti-terrorism campaign. Schools in North Sinai have been closed until further notice starting Saturday as the army and police continue operations.
