Borders security forces from the second field army based in North Sinai managed to discover 12 tunnels located along the border in North Sinai, newly appointed army spokesperson Tamer El-Refai declared Monday on the army's spokesperson official Facebook page. He added that forces affiliated to the second field army destroyed the tunnels that are believed to be used by weapons and drugs smugglers. He said that a tractor was also seized, carrying 800 smuggled cigarette packages in the North Sinai city of Rafah. Forces affiliated to the second field army in the Ismailia governorate found a truck filled with drugs. Two people were arrested after security forces found drugs in their possession. Meanwhile, the statement issued by the newly appointed army spokesperson highlighted recent arrests conducted by the third field army that included 593 packages of drugs in the Suez governorate, in addition to 138 packages of drugs in a nearby region named Abu Redis. The armed forces affiliated to the western military area near the seaport city of Marsa Matrouh seized a four-wheel drive vehicle loaded with 360 kg of hashish. Two guns and a sniper rifle were found in the vehicle. Moreover, these forces seized 300,000 capsules filled with marijuana and an AK-47 in Sallum City, located close to the Egyptian-Libyan border. Security forces arrested 74 people from different nationalities in the city who were trying to emigrate out of Egypt illegally. Since 2013, state security forces represented in both the army and police have been engaged in violent clashes with "Sinai Province", known previously as Ansar Beit Al-Maqdis. In 2014, the group declared its affiliation to Islamic State and has launched deadly attacks on army and police checkpoints. Over the course of the last two years, the Egyptian Armed Forces launched counterattacks against militant stationing points across the Sinai Peninsula where the group is based, particularly in the cities of Sheikh Zuweid, Rafah, and Al-Arish.
