Operation Sinai 2018’s soldiers send pride messages to Egyptians

CAIRO – 12 February 2018: Egyptian Military Spokesman Tamer al-Rafei released Sunday a clip titled “A message from Sinai” on his official Facebook account, showing a number of soldiers who participated in the Operation Sinai 2018 – launched by the army and police on Friday against the militants in Sinai. The soldiers sent proud short messages to everyone in the country.

You can feel the surge of enthusiasm as you hear the young brave soldiers talking about their mission with honor, vowing to sacrifice their lives in the battlefield. The soldiers said they will keep fighting Egypt's enemies everywhere until they revenge the terrorist operations' victims.



Weeks before the scheduled presidential election in Egypt, the army launched a major offensive against militants in some areas, mainly in northern Sinai that has witnessed a bloody insurgency against the military forces since July 2013, following the June 30 Revolution that toppled Muslim Brotherhood-affiliated former President Mohamed Morsi.

The army spokesman announced in a strongly worded televised statement Friday morning that the military and police forces were initiating a large-scale security operation. He said that, in addition to northern Sinai, the operation would involve actions in the Nile Delta, central Sinai and the Western Desert along the border with Libya.

“Operation Sinai 2018” is targeting “terrorist and criminal elements and organizations”, Rafei said. Rafei did not say how long it would last, but he said that it involved land, sea and air forces. Rafei added that the air force had launched attacks against militants' hide-outs in north and central Sinai; also, the navy had tightened control of the waterways to cut off supply lines.

The Interior Ministry told state agency MENA that the country has raised the security alert to its highest level nationwide, in light of the “fierce war” by the police in coordination with the armed forces to eradicate “the roots of terrorism.”

According to MENA, security measures in the vicinity of major state institutions, houses of worship and tourist hotspots have been intensified.