‘172 Sinai militants killed in February’

CAIRO — Egypt's army said Sunday at least 172 militants were killed in February in joint police and military operations in the restive Sinai where security forces are battling an Islamist insurgency.

The militants were killed in a series of security operations in the peninsula after a deadly January 29 attack by jihadists left 30 people dead, mostly soldiers.

The army said the militants were killed in the North Sinai cities of El Arish, Sheikh Zuweid and in the town of Rafah that borders Israel and the Palestinian Gaza Strip.

Another 229 suspected jihadists were arrested in these operations, while 85 militant hideouts were destroyed last month, the army said in a statement accompanied by a picture of a suspected militant shot dead.

Egypt's army has poured troops and armour into the region to fight an Islamist insurgency since the ouster of president Mohamed Morsi in July 2013.

Most attacks are spearheaded by Ansar Beit Al Maqdis [Partisans of Jerusalem], the Egyptian affiliate of the Daesh terror group that has seized territory in Syria and Iraq.

It says the attacks are in retaliation for a brutal government crackdown against Morsi supporters that has left hundreds dead and thousands jailed.