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Egypt air strike kills 20 militants in Sinai
Egyptian security forces stand by their Armoured Personnel Carriers ahead of a military operation in the northern Sinai peninsula on August 08, 2012. The military said it deployed Apache helicopter gunships in the strikes that killed 20 "terrorists" in the Sinai village of Tumah, in retaliation for a weekend ambush that cost the lives of 16 soldiers. AFP
CAIRO
Egypt's military killed 20 militants in a helicopter strike in Sinai on Wednesday, state television reported, days after 16 of its soldiers were killed in an attack attributed to Islamic extremists.
The state-owned Nile News television reported that an Egyptian air force Apache helicopter fired on the militants' vehicles in the north of the peninsula.
A military official in Sinai, who spoke to reporters on condition of anonymity, said "20 terrorists were killed" in the operation in a village named Tumah.
"The operation is continuing," he said. Other security officials in the north of Sinai reported air strikes near the town of Sheikh Zuwayid, close to the village.
Overnight, unknown assailants attacked security checkpoints near the town of El-Arish, the officials said, adding that no one was killed in a gunfight that ensued.
