The Egyptian authorities launched a large-scale operation against terrorists in the Sinai Peninsula. It involves the Air Force, the Army, the Navy and the police. The operation, whose goal is to completely free the peninsula from Islamists, is planned to be completed by the end of February. The military actions began a little more than a month before the forthcoming elections in Egypt, which the current president of the country Abdul-Fattah Al-Sisi is planning to re-elect.
And to immediately report any suspicious elements that could threaten the country's security and stability," the Army Colonel said on the air of Egyptian state television of the country Tamer al-Rifai.
The inhabitants told that they saw the Suez Canal and the city of Ismailia, bordering with the Northern Sinai, flying by military aircraft. Residents of the Gaza Strip also said that they heard the sound of explosions from the territory of Egypt.
As a source in Egypt's security services explained to Reuters, the operation is planned to be completed by the end of February.
The operation, planned for some time, is unprecedented in its scale, it involves thousands of people, the source said, not revealing other details.
As told in the army of Egypt, at the moment the military has already attacked the military shelters of Islamists, and the Egyptian fleet cut off supply lines to them at sea. Security measures were strengthened in the administrative center of the province of North Sinai, the city of Al-Arish: street patrols and checks of suspicious persons were increased. According to local residents, in some schools in the city on February 8, training evacuations were conducted.