Egypt airstrikes in Sinai kill 20 'terrorists' in reprisal for attacks on military posts
(Read article summary)The Aug. 5 attack on a border post in the Sinai has spurred an Egyptian military crackdown on the growing militant activity in the Sinai peninsula, which poses a challenge to Egypt's new leader.
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The Egyptian military launched its first airstrikes in the Sinai peninsula in decades today, killing 20 “terrorists,” Egyptian state-run media reports.
The airstrikes along the Israeli-Egyptian border came after several Egyptian military checkpoints in the region were attacked overnight and three days after unknown gunmen attacked Egyptian border guards. The incidents have left Egypt lurching to contain the Sinai's growing lawlessness, which has been fostered by the upheaval of post-revolution Egypt and poses an important challenge for the country's new leadership.
An unnamed Egyptian senior military official told Agence France-Presse that “20 terrorists were killed” in the village of Tumah, near the Gaza border, by Apache helicopter strikes. The military source said the operation was ongoing and other airstrikes have been reported in neighboring villages.
The attacks came the day after a military funeral for the 16 men who were killed by suspected militants on Aug. 5, when gunmen disguised as Bedouins staged an assault on a border post as guards stopped to break the Ramadan fast. The attack was the deadliest attack on Egyptian security forces on the peninsula since Israel and Egypt signed a peace treaty in 1979, according to Reuters.
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