Operation Sinai 2018 continues amid plans to develop peninsula

The Egyptian army killed 14 militants on Saturday (April 14th) after they launched an attack on a military camp in central Sinai, the army said in a statement.

Fourteen militants -- four of whom were wearing explosive vests -- armed with automatic rifles and medium machine guns "tried to storm a military camp in central Sinai, taking advantage of the early morning dark", the statement said.

"Our forces stopped their attack after they engaged them using different types of weapons, killing all of them," it said.

Eight Egyptian soldiers were killed in the attack and 15 others sustained shrapnel wounds.

The attack was claimed by "Islamic State of Iraq and Syria" (ISIS) affiliate in Sinai on Sunday.

Operation Sinai 2018, launched on February 9th to uproot extremists from the Nile Delta and northern and central Sinai, "will continue until it eliminates terrorism, which is now desperately trying to target our forces with suicide attacks", the army statement said.

On Saturday, Egypt's military said that 27 extremists were killed over the last few days, while 114 suspects were arrested.

Six of the extremists were killed by aerial bombardment on their hideouts while 12 died in a shoot out with police forces, the military said in a statement. It did not say how the other nine were killed, AFP reported.

Security forces also found and destroyed a training camp which included a shooting range, an obstacle course and an underground conference room, it said.

Comprehensive development

The use of suicide bombings by militants in Saturday's attack "confirms that terrorist groups have reached a degree of desperation and imbalance", MP Ahmed Ismail told Al-Mashareq.

Terror groups have reverted to suicide attacks due to the ramped up operations against them by the army and police forces in Sinai as part of Operation Sinai 2018, he said.

Ismail said parliament was committed to supporting the government in its plan to eliminate terrorism from Sinai and develop the peninsula.

On Sunday, Prime Minister Sherif Ismail announced a comprehensive four-year plan to develop the Sinai Peninsula.

"Counter-terrorism efforts will not bear fruit unless they were accompanied with comprehensive development," he said before a general session of Egypt’s parliament.

"We have launched a national four-year programme for the development of Sinai with an initial budget of 275 billion Egyptian pounds [$15.5 billion]," Ismail said.

Part of the funds will be secured from Arab finance funds, he said, in addition to financing provided by the Egyptian state.