Mar 19, 2018

Egypt's military said Monday that soldiers and police have killed 36 jihadists over five days as part of a sweeping operation against Islamic State group militants in the Sinai.

The army launched the campaign on February 9 after Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi, who is standing in elections this month for his second term, gave it a three-month deadline to crush IS in Sinai.

Security forces "eliminated 30 armed takfiri elements during a shootout with raiding forces" in the northern and central Sinai Peninsula, the military said in a statement.

A police shootout also left six "takfiri elements" dead and destoyed "an extremely dangerous terrorist cell", it added.

Over the past five days, soldiers also arrested 345 people "including a number of extremely dangerous takfiri elements and fugitives," it said.