MOSCOW (Sputnik) — Egyptian military airstrikes killed 27 Ansar Beit al-Maqids militants, affiliated with the Islamic State, in the North Sinai, Sky News Arabia said Friday, citing a source in the country's Defense Ministry.
The military operation against the Egypt-based group involved Apache helicopters and was carried out near the town of Sheikh Zuweid in North Sinai.
In the end of January, the terrorist group conducted a series of deadly attacks on military headquarters, a military base and a hotel in El-Arish, North Sinai's largest city. At least 29 people were killed and over 50 injured.
Ansar Beit al-Maqids, an organization that swore allegiance to the jihadist ISIL group last year, took responsibility for the attacks.
The ISIL is an extremist group that seized vast territories in Syria and Iraq, and in summer 2014 proclaimed a caliphate on territories under its control.
