Military Apache helicopters carried out intensive air strikes early Wednesday targeting terrorist hideouts in Mokata village south Sheikh Zuweid, North Sinai, according to reports. Security sources, asked to remain anonymous, said that the airstrikes targeted a gathering of IS-loyal Wilayat Sinai militants in a house owned by the group. The raids killed three militants and injured others. The sources pointed out that the strikes also destroyed nine terrorist hotbeds as well as 13 vehicles related to Wilayet Sinai, adding that the forces had defused three explosive packages planted by militants in Sheikh Zuweid. In response, two civilians were killed and two others injured as a mortar shell fall on their house in Sheikh Zuweid. The shell was thought to be fired by terrorists targeting military personnel during a ground offensive carried out by counter-terrorism units in the city. Since the ousting of president Mohamed Morsi in July 2013, the Egyptian army has been carrying out an ongoing military campaign against Wilayat Sinai, formerly known as Ansar Bayt Al Maqdis, after it had claimed responsibility for several attacks targeting Egyptian military and police personnel.
