Sources reported to the island that the commander of the 134th Mechanics Brigade of the 18th Division of the Egyptian Second Army, and his companions, were killed in a bombing that targeted his car on the international road in al-Touloul area, east of Bir al-Abd, north of Sinai. According to the same sources, the dead officer is a brigadier general.
The Egyptian Ministry of the Interior had announced earlier that the security forces had killed 17 militants in the area of El-Arish in North Sinai Governorate. An Interior Ministry statement said that an exchange of fire took place when the police forces raided the militants ’hideout, indicating that the group was involved in targeting the armed forces and the police.
On Monday, the military spokesman for the Egyptian Armed Forces announced that seven soldiers were killed and wounded, in a clash with gunmen in North Sinai Governorate.
"Members of the armed forces managed to thwart a terrorist attack on a security base in North Sinai," Colonel Tamer Al-Rifai said in a statement on his Facebook page.
He added that the security force was able to confront and engage the attacking elements, eliminate ten "terrorists" and destroy a four-wheel-drive vehicle.
He added that "as a result of the exchange of fire, two officers and five (military) ranks (ranks) were wounded and martyred," and that the forces are carrying out "combing and pursuit" activities in the area that witnessed the clash.
Since February 2018, the Egyptian army has been waging an ongoing military operation across the country, against what it says are armed organizations, most notably the Sinai Province organization that pledged allegiance to the state in late 2014.