Army kills high-profile terrorist in central Sinai
CAIRO – Egyptian army troops on Wednesday killed a
high-profile militant in the central part of the Sinai Peninsula.
Army Spokesman Col. Tamer al-Rifae said the militant
was called Nasser Abu Zaghloul.
Abu Zaghloul, he added on his Facebook page, was the
leader of Ansar Beit al-Maqdis, a militant organization active in Sinai, but
has been the target of an intense crackdown by the army since early February.
Al-Rifae noted that the militant was killed in an
exchange of fire with army troops in central Sinai.
Army troops, he said, found a rifle, two grenades, a
large amount of ammunitions and a radio with Abu Zaghloul after his death.
The army started an all-out campaign against
militants in Sinai on February 9 with the aim of stemming out all forms of
militancy in the peninsula, especially in its northern part.
Called "Operation Sinai 2018", the
campaign also includes an intensification of security measures in other parts
of Egypt, including its western border with Libya and near the southern border
with Sudan.
