Egypt responds to assassination of top military officer with airstrike killing 70 jihadists

by WorldTribune Staff, October 23, 2016

Egypt’s air force killed 70 jihadists in strikes on Islamic State of Iraq and Levant (ISIL) positions in northern Sinai on Oct. 23.

Egypt's airstrikes on Oct. 23 focused on a village near the Gaza Strip border.
Egypt’s airstrikes on Oct. 23 focused on a village near the Gaza Strip border.

The airstrikes were seen as retaliation for the assassination of Maj. Adel Ragaai, who was gunned down in Cairo on Oct. 22, the Jerusalem Post reported.

Ragaai was commander of the Egyptian army’s 9th armored division, the unit charged with destroying smuggling tunnels running between Egypt and the Gaza Strip.

Egyptian security forces said the airstrikes on Oct. 23 focused primarily on a village just west of Rafah, near the border with Gaza. Along with the 70 jihadists killed, dozens more were wounded and several ISIL vehicles used in attacks on Egyptian forces were destroyed.

Meanwhile, Sky News Arabic reported on Oct. 23 that Egyptian military forces foiled an attempt to carry out four bombings in northern Sinai, and killed one jihadist who reportedly attempted to launch an RPG-missile from behind an abandoned house in an area between the villages of Haruba and Qabir-Amir.

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