Egyptian Court Accuses 170 ISIS Elements of Photographing Air Base

Egyptian troops in north Sinai. Reuters
Egyptian troops in north Sinai. Reuters
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Egyptian Court Accuses 170 ISIS Elements of Photographing Air Base

Egyptian troops in north Sinai. Reuters
Egyptian troops in north Sinai. Reuters

Egypt's judicial authorities issued sentences Tuesday against 11 members of the Muslim Brotherhood group, which Cairo considers a terrorist organization.

Meanwhile, an Egyptian court accused 170 ISIS elements of photographing an air base and targeting vital installations in the case known as "filming the Belbeis airbase."

The court decided to set the hearing on June 12 to issue the verdicts.

The incident included killing the deputy of Faisal police station in Suez, placing an explosive device near a cinema in Suez, targeting army vehicles, the gas line at the Suez Petroleum Company and a ship in the canal, monitoring 101 battalion north Sinai, Security points along the Ismailia canal, monitoring security checkpoints and some members of the force of the center of Abshoy in Fayoum and burning the vehicle of an officer in Atfih.

The indictment added that the terrorist elements have also received by illegal means one of the country’s defense secrets by taking photos, using a mobile phone, for Belbeis air base in preparation for targeting it.

In February, Egypt’s security forces launched an all-out offensive against militants, deploying tens of thousands of troops and police backed by fighter-jets, helicopter gunships, navy vessels and tanks in Sinai and in the Western Desert.

At the end of November, President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi gave orders for the army and police to "use all the force to root out terrorism"

Egypt has been battling ISIS elements for years, but the insurgency gathered steam and grew deadlier after the 2013 ouster by the military, then led by Sisi, of Mohammed Morsi. Morsi was Egypt’s first freely elected leader whose one year in office proved divisive.



Israeli Airstrike Targets Three Cars Carrying Medical Materials in Syria's Homs

A woman walks past destroyed buildings in the government-controlled part of Homs, Syria, September 18, 2018. REUTERS/Marko Djurica
A woman walks past destroyed buildings in the government-controlled part of Homs, Syria, September 18, 2018. REUTERS/Marko Djurica
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Israeli Airstrike Targets Three Cars Carrying Medical Materials in Syria's Homs

A woman walks past destroyed buildings in the government-controlled part of Homs, Syria, September 18, 2018. REUTERS/Marko Djurica
A woman walks past destroyed buildings in the government-controlled part of Homs, Syria, September 18, 2018. REUTERS/Marko Djurica

An Israeli airstrike targeted three cars carrying medical and relief materials in the industrial city in Syria's Homs, the Syrian state news agency reported on Sunday, adding that material damage was reported.

The state news agency quoted the head of the industrial city in a town of Homs as saying that no factories were targeted inside the city and that the sound of the blast was a result of the Israeli strike, Reuters reported.

Israel has been carrying out strikes against Iran-linked targets in Syria for years but has ramped up such raids since last year's Oct. 7 attack by Palestinian group Hamas on Israeli territory that sparked the Gaza war.