Egyptian Army: 7 Soldiers and 59 Militants Killed in Sinai Clashes

On Sunday, July 18, the Egyptian army announced that in clashes on Saturday between militants and army forces in northern Sinai, 7 soldiers and 59 militants were killed. The recent clashes occurred between army forces and militants affiliated with a group in the Sinai Peninsula, which is a branch of the self-proclaimed Islamic State in Egypt, recently known as 'Sinai Province.' Earlier, Egyptian security sources reported that five security personnel were killed in an attack by Islamist militants in northern Sinai. On Saturday, it was reported that 20 militants had been killed. According to a recent statement from the Egyptian army, 14 targets were identified that 'ground forces of the army, supported by airstrikes,' attacked. The statement mentioned that military forces are still counting 'the terrorists killed following the airstrike.' As a result, it seems that the death toll from the recent clashes may increase. Over the past two years, following the ousting of Mohamed Morsi, the president from the Muslim Brotherhood in Egypt, hundreds of Egyptian security forces have been killed in attacks by extremist militants in northern Sinai. It has been two years since Morsi's ousting. AFP reported that in operations over the past two years in northern Sinai, in border areas between Gaza and Egypt, 1,100 militants have been killed. The tensions are not limited to Sinai. Last week, in the first attack on a diplomatic site since the onset of the conflicts, a powerful bomb explosion in front of the Italian consulate in Cairo resulted in one casualty.