5 Ansar Beit al-Maqdes members killed: Interior Ministry

Five militants allegedly affiliated with Ansar Beit al-Maqdes were killed on Sunday during a police raid on a farm in Husseiniya village in Sharqiya Governorate, where they were preparing homemade bombs, according to a televised statement by the Interior Ministry on Sunday evening.

A combined raid on the farm was carried out by Central Security Forces and Sharqiya Security Directorate, killing Abdel Fattah Ayed Marzouk Salman, Faisal Hamdeen Salman Saad and Mouaz Ibrahim Abdel Rahman — son of Ansar Beit al-Maqdes leader Ibrahim Abdel Rahman, who is currently in prison.

The identity of the two others is still unknown.

The deceased reportedly participated in several terrorist attacks, including in Farafra, and the assassination of captain Ashraf al-Qazaz last April at a checkpoint on the Cairo-Suez desert Road.

Egyptian security forces claim to have killed 14 “terrorists,” and arrested another 45, in raids between September 18 and 20 across the volatile Sinai Peninsula.

On Sunday, the official spokesperson for the Egyptian Armed Forces, Mohamed Samir, claimed that these security operations, along with several others in North Sinai, were carried out as part of “the army’s comprehensive plan to eradicate terrorism in the Sinai Peninsula.”

Fourteen “terrorists” were killed “during their attempted surveillance of security forces and whilst trying to flee from military checkpoints,” Samir posted on the official Facebook page for the Armed Forces after three days of operations.

Another 45 were reportedly arrested during this period, including, “five wanted individuals and 40 suspects.” Samir’s post added that legal measures are currently being taken against them, but no details were given of charges. 

There were also 15 automobiles and 8 motorcycles impounded and destroyed, as they didn’t have license plates and “were used in terrorist attacks against army and police forces,” as well as the destruction of “five assembly stations and the headquarters of terrorist elements,” according to the military spokesperson.

During this same period, he added, three marijuana plantations, allegedly “belonging to terrorist elements,” and amounting to approximately 2.5 feddans, were reportedly razed, and around four tons of marijuana confiscated.

A bomb, several rounds of ammunition, and communication devices were also reportedly confiscated during operations, and another two bombs were allegedly defused. The first was planted on the road near the restive North Sinai town of Sheikh Zuwayed, and was wired for remote detonation. The second allegedly weighed 50 kilograms. Both were neutralized, but “were intended for use against the army and police forces,” Samir wrote.

Over the past three weeks alone, Egyptian security forces have killed 75 individuals, and arrested 157 other suspects, in their efforts to “eradicate terrorism” in Sinai, according to the Armed Forces.

Restrictions on reporting from North Sinai make it extremely difficult to corroborate official figures and security accounts.

Over the past few years, hundreds of security forces, Islamist militants, and civilians are reported to have died, while an estimated 10,000 civilians have been displaced from their homes as a result of ongoing conflict in the Sinai Peninsula.