CAIRO (AA) – An army spokesman has denied reports about an Israeli attack into Egypt’s Sinai Peninsula following the killing of five militants in an explosion in the area.
“Reports about Israeli attacks into Egyptian lands are groundless and totally bare of truth,” spokesman Ahmed Mohamed Ali said via Facebook on Friday.
He dismissed alleged reports about coordination between Egypt and Israel in this regard as “baseless, insane and illogical”, urging the media to seek accuracy before running similar information as “it poses a grave danger to national security and harm Egyptian sovereignty”.
He reiterated that “Egyptian borders are a red line and will not be allowed to be touched.”
But the Israeli daily Haaretz said that an Israeli drone fired a missile into North Sinai, killing five militants and destroyed a rocket launcher.
Earlier today, at least five people were killed in an attack on a rocket launcher belonging to Jihadists in the North Sinai city of Rafah.
According to an Egyptian security source, a military helicopter struck the missile launch pad in Al-Arjaa district in southern Rafah after spotting gunmen moving toward it.
But sources close to Jihadist groups in Sinai said that an Israeli plane was behind the attack.
The sources added that the attack struck shortly as Jihadists were planning to fire missiles at Israeli targets.
“The bombing left elements of Jihadist groups dead as they prepared to fire missiles into Israel,” the sources said.
The missiles and the dead bodies were moved to an undisclosed location, added the sources.
Egypt's Sinai Peninsula enjoyed an atypically peaceful day on Thursday, which coincided with the first day of Eid al-Fitr, the three-day feast that follows the Islamic fasting month of Ramadan.
The peninsula, situated near Egypt's borders with Israel and the Palestinian Gaza Strip, has seen almost daily attacks by unknown assailants since the army's July 3 ouster of elected president Mohamed Morsi.
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