![Egyptian army conscripts stand guard outside the Suez Canal University hospital in the eastern port city of Ismailia on November 25th, 2017, where the victims of a bomb and gun assault on the North Sinai Rawda mosque that took place the day before are receiving treatment. [Mohamed al-Shahed/AFP]](/cnmi_am/images/2018/04/18/12332-Egypt-Sinai-soldiers-700_496.webp)
Egyptian forces have killed the "emir" of the "Islamic State of Iraq and Syria" (ISIS) group's affiliate in central Sinai, Egyptian army spokesman Col. Tamer al-Refaie said in a statement Wednesday (April 18th).
Nasser Abu Zaqoul was killed in central Sinai after significant exchanges of fire with members of the Third Field Army forces who were conducting raids in the area, it said.
A rifle, two hand grenades, a large amount of ammunition and communication devices were found in Abu Zaqoul's possession, the statement said.
"This [operation] is part of the armed forces’ efforts to enforce control over areas where counter-terrorism operations are underway in central and northern Sinai," al-Refaie said.
The army launched Operation Sinai 2018 on February 9th to uproot extremists from the Nile Delta and northern and central Sinai.
Abu Zaqoul, 40, was known as the deputy emir of Ansar Beit al-Maqdis in 2011, which later changed its name to Wilayat Sinai after it pledged allegiance to ISIS.
"The killing of Abu Zaqoul and several other [ISIS] leaders came after security forces expanded their intelligence-gathering, reconnaissance efforts and continuous raids on terrorist hideouts in Sinai," said Maj. Gen. Adel al-Omda, a military expert and advisor at Nasser Military Academy.
Operation Sinai 2018 has so far achieved good results, he told Al-Mashareq, noting that it has helped destroy the infrastructure terror cells rely on.
It also has dried up the sources of funding and logistical support that these cells depend on for their survival, he added.
"This means that the end of these groups in Sinai has become very near, as the government is gearing up with a large-scale development plan and major investments in northern, central, and southern Sinai," he said.
