Seven Egyptian soldiers and 71 extremists have been killed since the launch of a wide-ranging operation to quell an "Islamic State of Iraq and Syria" (ISIS) affiliate in Sinai earlier this month, AFP reported Thursday (February 22nd).
"As a result of the heroic combat operations by our armed forces... seven heroes of the armed forces were martyred," military spokesman Colonel Tamer al-Rifaie said at a press conference aired Thursday on state television.
"Seventy-one extremists have been killed and five arrested," he added.
Al-Rifaie added that 1,852 other suspects have been rounded up in the operation that began on February 9th, following an ultimatum by President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi to end the deadly insurgency.
ISIS attacks have killed hundreds of policemen and soldiers in the Sinai Peninsula. The group has also killed over 100 Christians in the past year and targeted tourists.
Al-Sisi ordered his security commanders to put an end to the attacks following a massacre at a northern Sinai mosque in November that killed more than 300 worshippers.
ISIS's Egyptian branch has used the north of the Sinai Peninsula as a staging ground for its attacks.
Officials say ISIS has tried to move fighters to Sinai following defeats in Iraq and Syria, where it has lost most of its territory.
