Arab –Islamic Committee seeks effective global sanctions on Israel    Saudi foreign minister calls for enduring Palestinian rights as only path to peace    Tornado kills at least 5, injures 33, in Chinese metropolis as region battles deadly floods    Iraqi TikTok star Umm Fahad shot dead in Baghdad    SFDA: Breast-milk substitute products are sugar-free complying with Saudi specifications    HONOR opens two HONOR exclusive service centers in Saudi Arabia to bring better customer experience    Saudi Arabia to host World Investment Conference amidst economic expansion    Saudi minister announces 10% increase in tourist numbers in Q1 2024    Traditional dress is mandatory for Saudi civil servants    Minister Al Ibrahim calls for enhanced global cooperation at WEF meeting in Riyadh    Saudi Finance Minister stresses importance of Vision 2030 at WEF Special Meeting in Riyadh    Saudi Arabia, EU strengthen energy collaboration with upcoming MoU    NEOM secures SR10 billion revolving credit facility to support development initiatives    Al Shabab overpowers Al Ittihad with a 3-1 victory in Jeddah    Saudi Olympic team exits U-23 Cup in quarterfinals, loses Paris 2024 Olympics dream    Al Hilal triumphs over Al Fateh in a fierce 3-1 clash at Kingdom Arena    'Zarqa Al Yamama': Riyadh premieres first Saudi opera    Riyadh Season announces first overseas event with boxing gala in Los Angeles    Australian police launch manhunt for Home and Away star Orpheus Pledger    Spice Girls reunite at Posh's 50th birthday    JK Rowling in 'arrest me' challenge over hate crime law    Trump's Bible endorsement raises concern in Christian religious circles    Hollywood icon Will Smith shares his profound admiration for Holy Qur'an    We have celebrated Founding Day for three years - but it has been with us for 300    Exotic Taif Roses Simulation Performed at Taif Rose Festival    Asian shares mixed Tuesday    Weather Forecast for Tuesday    Saudi Tourism Authority Participates in Arabian Travel Market Exhibition in Dubai    Minister of Industry Announces 50 Investment Opportunities Worth over SAR 96 Billion in Machinery, Equipment Sector    HRH Crown Prince Offers Condolences to Crown Prince of Kuwait on Death of Sheikh Fawaz Salman Abdullah Al-Ali Al-Malek Al-Sabah    HRH Crown Prince Congratulates Santiago Peña on Winning Presidential Election in Paraguay    SDAIA Launches 1st Phase of 'Elevate Program' to Train 1,000 Women on Data, AI    41 Saudi Citizens and 171 Others from Brotherly and Friendly Countries Arrive in Saudi Arabia from Sudan    Saudi Arabia Hosts 1st Meeting of Arab Authorities Controlling Medicines    General Directorate of Narcotics Control Foils Attempt to Smuggle over 5 Million Amphetamine Pills    NAVI Javelins Crowned as Champions of Women's Counter-Strike: Global Offensive (CS:GO) Competitions    Saudi Karate Team Wins Four Medals in World Youth League Championship    Third Edition of FIFA Forward Program Kicks off in Riyadh    Evacuated from Sudan, 187 Nationals from Several Countries Arrive in Jeddah    SPA Documents Thajjud Prayer at Prophet's Mosque in Madinah    SFDA Recommends to Test Blood Sugar at Home Two or Three Hours after Meals    SFDA Offers Various Recommendations for Safe Food Frying    SFDA Provides Five Tips for Using Home Blood Pressure Monitor    SFDA: Instant Soup Contains Large Amounts of Salt    Mawani: New shipping service to connect Jubail Commercial Port to 11 global ports    Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques Delivers Speech to Pilgrims, Citizens, Residents and Muslims around the World    Sheikh Al-Issa in Arafah's Sermon: Allaah Blessed You by Making It Easy for You to Carry out This Obligation. Thus, Ensure Following the Guidance of Your Prophet    Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques addresses citizens and all Muslims on the occasion of the Holy month of Ramadan    







Thank you for reporting!
This image will be automatically disabled when it gets reported by several people.



Egypt to press ahead with air strikes after attacks
Published in The Saudi Gazette on 31 - 05 - 2017

Egypt made clear on Monday that it planned to press ahead with air strikes against Daesh (the so-called IS) in neighboring Libya who it says were responsible for killing Egyptian Christians in an ambush last week.
Libyan military commanders said Egyptian jets hit the Libyan city of Derna on Monday, continuing attacks that began hours after masked men boarded vehicles driving dozens of people to a monastery in the southern Egyptian province of Minya on Friday and killed 29.
A witness said on Monday one air attack hit the western entrance to Derna and two others hit Dahr Al-Hamar in the city's south.
"The air strikes are joint ones between the Libyan National Army and Egyptian army," said Ahmad Messmari, a spokesman for the Libyan National Army, an eastern Libyan faction allied with Egypt.
An Egyptian military spokesman, Colonel Tamer Al-Refaei, said anyone who plotted what he called terrorist violence against Egypt was not beyond the reach of the military.
"Anyone sponsoring terrorism will be punished no matter where they are," he told the state-owned Ahram newspaper. "We have not announced the cessation of military operations against terrorist training camps."
Libyan operational commander Brigadier Abdulsalam Al-Hasi said the strikes targeted Majlis Mujahideen Derna and Abu Salim brigade, two local Libyan groups allied with Al Qaeda.
Refaei said the military was not targeting a specific militant group because it did not differentiate between various factions.
Egyptian Foreign Minister Sameh Shoukry said Egypt had targeted militant bases in Libya "to get rid of them and to limit their ability to threaten Egypt's national security".
Speaking at a news conference in Cairo with Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov, Shoukry said Egypt looked forward to "Russia utilizing all of its available capabilities to work together to get rid of terrorism".
IS claimed responsibility for last week's attack in Egypt, the latest targeting the Christian minority there. Three church bombings since December, also claimed by IS, have killed more than 70 people.
Another Egyptian state-owned newspaper, Akhbar, said two men responsible for planning the Minya attack had also been involved in the church bombings. The two, now on the run, had been helped by accomplices from Libya who supported IS.
Akhbar quoted security sources as saying the two men had provided weapons and cars for the gunmen, some of whom belonged to IS's Libyan affiliate.
Egypt has carried out air strikes in Libya occasionally since its neighbor descended into factional fighting in the years following the 2011 civil war that ousted Muammar Gaddafi.
Militant groups, including IS, have gained ground in the chaos, and Derna, a city of about 150,000 that straddles the coastal highway linking Libya to Egypt, has a long history with militancy.
IS's first attempted to establish a presence in Libya in Derna, but it faced armed resistance from more locally affiliated militant groups, including the Majlis Mujahideen Derna coalition and the Abu Salim brigade. It was driven out of the city in 2015 and later set up its main Libyan base in Sirte.
Egypt has been backing eastern commander Khalifa Haftar, whose Libyan National Army has been fighting militant groups and other fighters in Benghazi and Derna for more than two years.
Messmari, the Libyan National Army spokesman, told reporters in Benghazi late on Sunday that Haftar's forces were coordinating with Egypt's military and the weekend raids targeted ammunition stores and operations camps.
Egyptian President Abdel Fattah El-Sisi said on Friday the air raids targeted militants responsible for plotting the attack, and that Egypt would not hesitate to carry out additional strikes inside and outside the country. – Reuters


Clic here to read the story from its source.