Egypt says 3 troops killed fighting militants in Sinai

CAIRO:  The Egyptian military said Wednesday that three officers were killed in the last week in the restive northern Sinai Peninsula, where it is battling an Islamic State-led insurgency.

Another two troops were wounded, Col. Tamer el-Rifai, a military spokesman, said in a statement posted on Facebook. The troops killed 30 militants and arrested at least 173 suspects, he said, adding that airstrikes in the Western Desert destroyed 10 vehicles laden with weapons and ammunition.

The military said troops dismantled more than 74 explosive devices. It said that troops also destroyed more than 430 hideouts, munition and weapons depots and targeted more than 40 illegal opium fields in the past week.

The figures provided by the military could not be independently confirmed as media access to the northern Sinai is heavily restricted.

The military launched a massive operation earlier this year aimed at restoring security in northern Sinai and the Western Desert, which borders chaotic Libya.

A leading international rights group on Monday warned of a humanitarian crisis in northern Sinai, saying the military had imposed severe restrictions on the movement of people and goods.

The campaign has left up to 420,000 residents in northern Sinai in urgent need of humanitarian aid since the operation began on February 9, Human Rights Watch said.

The military has denied there is a food crisis, saying it provides aid convoys and has opened several new facilities that are selling food and other necessities at discounted prices to the local population.

An Islamic State affiliate based in northern Sinai has carried out attacks across Egypt in recent years, mainly targeting security forces and the country's Christian minority.