The Egyptian army said it arrested 22 "terrorist and criminal elements" in Upper Egypt and the restive Sinai Peninsula and demolished nine tunnels leading to the Gaza Strip.
The armed forces arrested eight suspected "terrorist elements" from several Sinai towns, including Sheikh Zuweid and Rafah, military spokesman Ahmed Ali said on Facebook.
According to Ali, those arrested included a "highly dangerous terrorist element."
Ali also said the armed forces destroyed nine tunnels to the neighboring Gaza Strip, three of which were inside homes that Ali said military forces blew up.
Furthermore, Ali said security forces captured 14 people in possession of a few firearms in "criminal hubs" in the Upper Egyptian Minya province.
Last September, Egypt's military announced it launched a wide-scale military operation in Sinai, following an unprecedented rise in militant attacks targeting security forces in the northwestern border region, which have left dozens of security personnel dead since last July's military ouster of Islamist president Mohamed Morsi.
The campaign is also aimed at destroying the network of tunnels linking Gaza to Sinai, which constitute a major commercial artery used to bring vital commodities – including food, fuel and building materials – into the besieged coastal enclave.
By Islam Mosaad
englishnews@aa.com.tr
