Egypt army says 20 killed in operations

Cairo : Egypt’s army said yesterday it has killed 20 jihadists in the latest round of military operations in the Western Desert and Sinai Peninsula. The military launched a sweeping operation in February focused on Sinai in eastern Egypt aimed at wiping out militants, including from the Islamic State group, who have been waging a bloody insurgency.

Operations over the past few days had “resulted in the elimination of seven extremely dangerous” jihadists close to Egypt’s western border with Libya, the army said in a statement. It said 13 militants were also killed in shootouts with government forces during army raids in central and northern Sinai.