Twelve terrorists have been killed in northern and central Sinai on the fourth day of a comprehensive anti-terrorism operation waged by military and security forces, Egypt's army spokesperson Tamer El-Refaie said in a statement on Monday. This was the fifth communiqué released by the Egyptian Armed Forces since Comprehensive Operation Sinai 2018 was launched on Friday morning. El-Refaie said 92 suspects and others wanted for crimes were captured. The communique added that the Egypt's Air Force destroyed 60 terror targets used by terrorists in Monday's operations. "The army destroyed and seized 20 4x4 vehicles, 27 motorbikes, 30 hideouts and ammunition storehouses. Army engineers also detonated 27 IED's that were planted in the area of operations," the statement said. Meanwhile, the Egyptian Navy Forces continued patrols to secure the country's shores. Joint police and army units have conducted 398 operations in all parts of the country to maintain security, the communique said. Operation Sinai 2018 was launched on Friday morning, involving land, naval and air forces, as well as the police and border guards, targeting "terrorist and criminal elements and organizations" in northern and central Sinai, as well as parts of the Nile Delta and the Western Desert. On Sunday, the army spokesperson said that army units killed 16 terrorists and arrested four others. El-Rafei said Operation Sinai 2018 was launched “to implement the plan of comprehensive confrontation with terrorist and criminal elements and organizations in North and Central Sinai, and in other areas in the Nile Delta and desert areas west of the Nile Valley." Egypt has been battling in the past four years a terror campaign, led by Ansar Beit Al-Maqdis, based in the northern part of the Sinai Peninsula that has carried out deadly attacks against security forces and civilians. The army said it has killed hundreds of suspected terrorists in military operations. In late November, following the deadly terror attack on a North Sinai mosque that left 305 worshippers killed, Egyptian President Abdel-Fattah El-Sisi ordered the military to defeat terrorists in North Sinai within three months.
