Egyptian Drone Kills Terrorist Leader in North Sinai

A senior member of Egypt's Wilayat Sinai terrorist group was killed in an Egyptian army drone strike, local media said Tuesday.

CAIRO (Sputnik) — The drone attacked a car driven by the militant leader near north Sinai's village of Masura to the south of Rafah city on the Gaza Strip border, the Masr Alarabia news website reported, citing Egyptian security sources.

Egypt has been fighting a jihadist insurgency in northern Sinai since the army, led by President Abdel Fattah Sisi, overthrew then Islamist president Mohamed Morsi in 2013. Police and security forces have been the target of deadly attacks by Islamists in the area.

In July, Egyptian officials said that most of the peninsula had been cleared of militants except for a limited area. However, regular attacks continue to take the lives of Egyptian security personnel.

In 2014, Sinai's indigenous militants pledged allegiance to the Daesh, a terrorist group outlawed in many countries, including Russia and the United States. The self-proclaimed Wilayat Sinai has subsequently claimed responsibility for a number of deadly attacks in the area.