Egypt’s army said Sunday it had killed 16 terrorists and detained 34 more in the Sinai Peninsula since launching a major operation against them on Friday.

The security sweep in the Sinai, heart of a persistent Islamic State group insurgency, comes as President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi seeks re-election next month.

Army spokesman Tamer al-Rifai said 16 jihadists had been killed and 34 detained during a “sweep and raids… in northern and central Sinai”.

The army destroyed 66 terrorist hideouts, 11 pickup vehicles and 31 motorbikes, he said in a statement.

It also discovered and destroyed an explosives-making laboratory and a communications center, as well as six cannabis and opium fields, he said.

Source: AFP