Armed Forces: 3 armed militants, 2 civilians killed in Operation Sinai 2018

The military killed three alleged armed militants and arrested 59 other suspects in northern and central Sinai over an undisclosed timeframe, according to a Tuesday statement by Armed Forces Spokesperson Tamer al-Rifai.

The 25th military communiqué on Operation Sinai 2018 also included reference to one military soldier, who was reportedly injured "during clashes with terrorist elements," as well the death of two civilians, who were killed when an explosive device targeting Armed Forces personnel detonated.

Rifai's Tuesday statement noted that military operations "over the past few days" led to the demolition of 285 shelters and hideouts allegedly used by armed militants, as well as two weapons caches in northern and central Sinai, which included military uniforms, binoculars, a large amount of ammunition, 200 kg of TNT, a number of circuit boards for explosive devices, communication equipment and "takfiri" literature. A number of tunnels in the city of Rafah were also destroyed by military forces, according to the statement.

The Armed Forces also destroyed a fuel storage point and a workshop used for equipping cars with armor that allegedly belonged to armed militants, as well as an explosive device that was used to target the military.

On June 25, an employee at the state-owned North Sinai Radio security department was shot dead in his west Arish residence by unidentified assailants.

This was the third attack by unidentified assailants in which civilians were killed in Arish since the commencement of Operation Sinai 2018 in early February, a military operation that purports to "end terrorism" in northern and central parts of the peninsula.

While the Sinai-based militant group Province of Sinai also claimed responsibility for the killing of two civilians it alleged were cooperating with the Egyptian Armed Forces on June 19, it did not reveal their identities or the time and place of their death.