Egyptian military aircraft have bombarded Rafah and Sheikh Zuweid

Egyptian military aircraft have bombarded alleged militant hideouts in Rafah and Sheikh Zuweid cities in North Sinai governorate, killing at least 10 militants, security officials said.

“The death toll may increase as tens were seriously injured during the raids,” which continued from Wednesday evening until early Thursday, said a security source cited in a report by Xinhua news agency.

The four military planes also destroyed a number of vehicles carrying machine guns used by militants, the source further noted.

Earlier on Wednesday, the Egyptian military claimed it had killed six more gunmen and arrested 10 suspects at Al-Toma and Al-Fitat villages in Sheikh Zuweid city, destroying four vast olive farms allegedly used by militants as “post-attack hiding places.”

On Monday, similar military operations killed five militants and arrested three others at Sheikh Zuweid, Rafah and Bi’r al-Abd cities in North Sinai.

Since the ouster of Egypt’s first free-elected President Mohamed Morsi by the military in early July, militants have taken the Sinai Peninsula as a stronghold for their attacks against security personnel and buildings.

The Al-Qaeda-linked Ansar Bayt al-Maqdis group, based in Sinai, has claimed responsibility for most of the attacks.

The group also claimed responsibility for Sunday’s tourist bus blast that killed three South Koreans as well as the Egyptian bus drivers and injured 13 others in Taba town in South Sinai.

It was the first deadly attack on tourists in Egypt since July 2005 when a spree of bombings killed 88 Egyptians and foreigners in South Sinai’s resort town of Sharm el-Sheikh.