The operation targets militants in the North Sinai province, which has borne the brunt of the extremist violence. President Abdel-Fattah el-Sissi asked the military to "use all necessary force" to end jihadi attacks.
Image: picture alliance/AP Photo/Str
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The Egyptian army announced a new offensive against the "Islamic State" insurgency on Friday. The operation will target militants in the Nile Delta and the northern Sinai Peninsula.
The offensive takes place less than three months after an attack at a mosque in North Sinai, where more than 300 worshippers died at the hands of militant gunmen. Although no one claimed responsibility, officials said the group had carried an "Islamic State" flag.
After the attack, Egyptian President Abdel-Fattah el-Sissi ordered the military to use all necessary force to end attacks by militants in the volatile peninsula within three months.
All security forces involved
A statement by the army explained that the new operation seeks to "clean up areas where there are terrorist hotbeds."
The new offensive will involve the air force, the navy, the army and also the police forces. A few hours after the announcement, Egypt's air force targeted hideouts and arms depots used by suspected militants in Sinai.
Border guards and police forces will tighten border security measures and increase their presence in vital areas. The navy will also enforce tight security measures across maritime borders "to cut off supply lines for terrorist elements," the statement added.
Additionally, in an earlier televised address, army spokesman Col. Tamer al-Refai called on Egyptians to support the new operation, to "cooperate" with the forces and "report immediately any elements that threaten the country's security and stability."
Egypt has been increasingly targeted by jihadis since the overthrow of Islamist former President Mohammed Morsi in 2013.
While attacks against the military, police and churches have occurred all over the country, the North Sinai province has borne the brunt of the extremist violence.
Jihadis have also targeted tourists, killing all 224 on board a Russian plane carrying holidaymakers in 2015.
The rise of Islamic extremism in and around Egypt since the 1990s has seen a big rise the number of attacks targeting tourists and non-Muslims. DW looks back at some of the most devastating.
Image: picture-alliance/AA
1997 Luxor massacre
Sixty-two tourists were killed at Egypt's Deir el-Bahri archaeological site in Luxor. Six assailants, thought to have been linked to al-Qaida, disguised themselves as members of the security forces and descended on the temple armed with automatic machine guns and knives. Egyptian tourist police and military forces eventually stopped the attackers, who were either killed or committed suicide.
Image: picture-alliance/AP Photo/M. El-Dakhakhny
2004 Sinai bombings
A series of bomb attacks targeting tourists in Egypt's Sinai Peninsula killed 34 people and injured 171. Most of the casualties were killed after a truck drove into the lobby of the Taba Hilton. Two more bombs went off at campsites some 50 kilometers away, killing a handful of people. Roughly half the casualties were foreigners, including 12 Israelis.
Image: picture-alliance/AP Photo/A. Nabil
2005 Sharm el-Sheikh attacks
The attack in the Egyptian resort city of Sharm el-Sheikh was carried out on Egypt's Revolution Day and for a decade remained the worst Islamist attack in Egypt's history. A series of bombs planted close to bars and restaurants, as well as by a hotel, killed 88 people and injured 150. The majority of victims were locals, although a number of tourists also died, including 11 British nationals.
Image: dpa
2006 Dahab bombings
The attack on the the Egyptian resort city of Dahab marked the third consecutive year that tourist resorts had been targeted. A series of blasts in a restaurant, a café and a market killed at least 23 people, most of whom were local, and wounded around 80. Egyptian officials maintain that the attacks were carried out by the Islamist cell known as Jama'at al-Tawhid wal-Jihad, a forerunner of "IS."
Image: AP
2015 Metrojet Flight 9268 disaster
All 224 mostly Russian passengers were killed when Metrojet Flight 9268 suddenly dropped out of the sky over the Egypt's Sinai peninsula, shortly after having taken off from Sharm el-Sheikh international airport. Authorities agree that it appeared a bomb had been snuck on board. The so-called "Islamic State" jihadi group claimed responsibility for the attack.
Image: picture-alliance/dpa/M. Grigoriev
2016 Attacks on Egypt's Coptic Christian minorities
While Egypt's Coptic Christians have for decades been targeted by Islamists, deadly attacks on Coptic churches have increased dramatically in recent months. At least 102 Egyptian Christians have been killed in four separate attacks since December 2016.
Image: Getty Images/AFP/Stringer
2017 Coptic church and Al-Rawda mosque bombings
On April 9, 2017, the Coptic church faith followers encountered devastating twin blasts in Tanta and Alexandria as they celebrated Palm Sunday, killing 28 and 17 people respectively. On November 24, 2017, a bomb went off outside of Al-Rawda mosque in the city of Al-Arish in the northern Sinai Peninsula, which claimed the lives of more than 300 people and injured 109 others.
