Colonel Tamer el Rifae, spokesman for the Egyptian army, made known on his Facebook page that three terrorists considered "very dangerous" were killed by Egyptian armed forces before they could implement their attack plan to a bloc in north of Sinai. During the operation, explosive belts, weapons, money and various telecommunication devices were found.
The operation took place after yesterday, 13 September, two conscripts were killed following an attack by militants of the Islamic State in northern Sinai. During the assault at a checkpoint five militiamen were killed and two others were injured. El Rifae, commenting on the episode, wrote: "The terrorists exploited the reduced visibility due to the fog to break through the roadblock", explaining the dynamics, adding that one of them wearing an explosive belt launched himself against the military . The checkpoint staff managed to stop him by shooting him before he blew himself up.
The attack reaches a few days from the one that occurred last September 11 against an Egyptian security patrol in Ba'r al Abd, in the suburbs of al Arish, in Sinai. In a message released by the so-called ISA "Amaq" press agency, IS claimed responsibility for the assault. In Sinai the Sinai State group (Wilayat Sinai) is active, known before the affiliation to IS in 2014 as Ansar Beit al Maqdis.