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Sinai 2018: Egypt boasts 'over 100 militants killed'
A new video released by the Egyptian military boasts the resounding successes of its operation against IS-affiliated militants in the Sinai, despite an ongoing ban on reporters in the area.
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The Egyptian military killed 16 "highly dangerous" takfiri militants and destroyed nine "terrorist targets" in the Sinai, it reported on Sunday, bringing the total of IS-aligned fighters killed by the army to approximately 130.
A new propaganda video released by the military shows off the purported successes of the Sinai 18 offensive, launched on February 8, including soldiers capturing militants, raiding hideouts, and airstrikes hitting alleged targets.
The video detailed that hideouts and manufacturing warehouses had been discovered and raided, where the army seized weapons, missiles and explosive material, as well as "books that assert the takfiri ideology".
The statement also boasted that more than 4,680 kilogrammes of drugs were seized from underground tunnels near the border with Gaza.
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The military announcement comes the same day as it pounded villages east of Rafah with heavy artillery, according to al-Araby al-Jadeed, and two Egyptian soldiers were reported killed in an IED explosion.
The numbers given by Cairo however cannot be verified as no reporters have been allowed to the area.
Egypt has also launched a cyber warfare offensive on the region, which has caused widespread disruption to cellular networks as far as Israel and Gaza.
The offensive, an initiative of general-turned-president Abdel Fattah al-Sisi, comes just in the run-up to the presidential elections, which the military strongman is almost certain to win after would-be opposition candidates were either arrested or withdrew their bids shortly after announcing them.