Egypt is deploying new troops backed by tanks and other armoured vehicles to strongholds of armed groups in the northern Sinai Peninsula.
A military official said on Saturday the army would “clean” areas around the towns of Rafah and Sheikh Zuweyid on the border with the Gaza Strip and two nearby villages, al-Qurea and al-Dhahir, where fighters operate.
He spoke on condition of anonymity according to rules.
Sources within the military told Al Jazeera that explosions heard around the town of Sheikh Zuweyid early Saturday morning were part of the military operation.
The sources said Apache aircrafts fired rockets at “terrorist hotbeds”, and then soldiers on the ground went in to crack down on “terrorists”.
A witness said the column of tanks, trucks carrying infantry, rocket launchers and other military vehicles on the road Saturday appears to be one of the largest units deployed to the area in recent years.
The troop movement follows a failed Thursday car bomb attack on the Interior Minister’s convoy in Cairo that killed one person.
Source: Al Jazeera and agencies