CAIRO // Egypt’s army said on Sunday it has destroyed 13 more tunnels connecting the Sinai Peninsula to the Gaza Strip, taking to 1,639 the overall number it has laid waste to.
Cairo has poured troops into the peninsula to counter a rising insurgency since the removal of Islamist president Mohammed Morsi last year, and its security operation involves the destruction of these tunnels.
The Palestinian militant group Hamas, which is the main power in Gaza, reportedly uses the tunnels to smuggle arms, food and money into the blockaded coastal enclave.
Israel has been waging a military offensive on Gaza since July 8 to halt rocket fire, and it launched a ground assault on July 17 aimed at destroying Hamas tunnels to Israel .
It accuses Hamas of using the tunnels to attacks on Israel.
Ties between Hamas and Cairo have deteriorated since the Egyptian army deposed Mr Morsi on July 3, 2013. Hamas is an affiliate of Mr Morsi’s Muslim Brotherhood.
Cairo also accuses of Hamas of being involved in militant attacks inside Egypt, which have multiplied since Mr Morsi was removed.
Militant groups say their attacks are in retaliation for a police crackdown on Mr Morsi’s supporters. The crackdown has seen more than 1,400 people killed in street clashes.
On Saturday, four children were killed in Sinai when a mortar round hit their home, in an apparent attack by militants targeting soldiers, security officials said.
The attack took place in the northern Sinai town of El Joura, believed to be a bastion of Islamist militants who have killed scores of police and soldiers over the past year.
Four people were wounded in the blast, the officials said, adding that the children were all under 15 years old.
Soldiers and police had been combing the area a day after militants shot dead two senior army and police officers as they were driving home.
The military said on Saturday its forces had killed 12 militants the day before in several operations.
The militant attacks usually target security personnel, but they have also led to civilian casualties.
At least seven civilians and a soldier were killed in a rocket attack earlier this month in the north Sinai capital El Arish, when one rocket misfired and hit a crowded market place.
Separately, a soldier was wounded by gunfire on Saturday near the town of Rafah, which straddles Egypt’s border with the Palestinian Gaza Strip.
The military has poured armour and soldiers into the desert region to quell the militants, who have also struck the capital and other mainland cities using car bombs.
The attacks have decreased over the past few months after several militant leaders were killed or captured.
But restoring complete security to Sinai, which also borders Israel, has so far eluded the military.
The main militant group, the Islamist Ansar Beit Al Maqdis, recently posted pictures on social media of its gunmen openly passing out leaflets to Sinai residents. The group says it wants to establish Islamic law and avenge those killed in the government’s post-Morsi crackdown.
The group also claims to have fired several rockets at Israel over the past month in support of Hamas battling Israel in Gaza, where the death toll topped 1,000 Palestinians on Saturday after almost three weeks of fighting.
Egyptian security officials have not confirmed that rockets have been fired recently from Sinai into Israel.
But the military said earlier this week it had killed three militants who were carrying rockets in a car and headed for the border with Israel.
Egypt also considers of Palestinian armed groups to have been connections to some the militants active in Sinai.
Despite trying to mediate a ceasefire between Hamas and Israel, Egypt has so far been unsuccesfuly come up with a proposal that both groups can agree to.
* Agence France-Presse and Reuters
