Egypt arrests 3 suspected terrorists in Sinai

CAIRO, Jan. 16 (Xinhua) -- The Egyptian army arrested on Tuesday three suspected terrorists while they were watching the troops movements in the central part of North Sinai province northeastern Cairo, the Egyptian military spokesman said in a statement.

"The forces of the Third Field Army also managed to detect and destroy an explosive device prepared to target the forces in Central Sinai," military spokesman Tamer al-Refaay said in the statement.

He noted that the military raid also destroyed a number of terrorist hideouts containing fuel and provision.

On Saturday, Egypt started the implementation of a partial curfew in North Sinai, along with a renewed nationwide state of emergency, for three months each.

Bordering Israel and the Palestinian Gaza Strip, North Sinai has been the center of terrorist attacks that killed hundreds of policemen and soldiers following the military removal of former Islamist President Mohamed Morsi in July 2013 in response to mass protests against his 12-month reign and his now-outlawed Muslim Brotherhood group.

The attacks later extended to reach several other provinces including the capital Cairo and started to target the Coptic minority via church bombings.

Most of the attacks were claimed by the so-called Wilayat Sinai (Sinai state or province), a Sinai-based group affiliated with the Islamic State (IS) regional terrorist group.

Terrorism in Egypt did not stop at targeting security men and Copts, as a terrorist operation last month against a mosque in North Sinai's Arish city killed at least 310 Muslim worshippers and injured over 120 others, marking the deadliest terror attack and the first against a Muslim mosque in Egypt's modern history.

No group has yet claimed responsibility for the mosque attack.

President Abdel-Fattah al-Sisi ordered the army's chief of staff in late November 2017 to restore security and stability in the restive part of the Sinai Peninsula within three months.

Meanwhile, the Egyptian security forces have killed hundreds of terrorists and arrested thousands of suspects during the country's anti-terror war declared by Sisi, the army chief then, following Morsi's ouster. Enditem