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Eleven Egyptian troops killed in 'terrorist attack', says army

CairoEdited By: Manas JoshiUpdated: May 08, 2022, 07:57 AM IST
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Representative image Photograph:(Reuters)

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It was the heaviest loss of life the army had suffered in years in campaign against militants

Egyptian army has said that 11 soldiers had been killed while tackling "terrorist attack" abutting Sinai peninsula. Army says that this is a hotbed of jihadist activity. 

It was the heaviest loss of life the army had suffered in years in its long-running campaign in and around the Sinai against militants loyal to the Islamic State group.

The army said that five soldiers had also been wounded in a firefight that took place on the eastern bank of the canal. It added that security forces were "continuing to chase the terrorists and surround them in an isolated area of the Sinai".

"These terrorist operations will not defeat the determination of the country and the army to continue uprooting terrorism," President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi pledged on Facebook.

The US has condemned the "terrorist attack in the Sinai targeting members of the Egyptian military"

"For decades, the United States has been and remains Egypt's strong partner in confronting terrorism in the region," State Department spokesman Ned Price said in a statement.

Egypt's Sinai Peninsula has been gripped by an armed insurgency for more than a decade, which peaked after the ouster of late Islamist president Mohammed Morsi in 2013. 

(With inputs from  agencies)

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