Egypt Army Seizes Weapons While Chasing Terrorists

Military armored vehicle securing worshippers outside a mosque in Bir Al-Abed, northern Sinai, Egypt, December 1, 2017. Reuters
Military armored vehicle securing worshippers outside a mosque in Bir Al-Abed, northern Sinai, Egypt, December 1, 2017. Reuters
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Egypt Army Seizes Weapons While Chasing Terrorists

Military armored vehicle securing worshippers outside a mosque in Bir Al-Abed, northern Sinai, Egypt, December 1, 2017. Reuters
Military armored vehicle securing worshippers outside a mosque in Bir Al-Abed, northern Sinai, Egypt, December 1, 2017. Reuters

Egyptian army's border guards seized a number of weapons within the framework of its war on terrorist organizations.

Border guards seized two automatic rifles, 29 shotguns, 5,000 bullets, and 24 explosive devices, as well as 29 metal detectors, 2,200 kilograms of a rock from which gold ore is extracted and 73 vehicles used for smuggling during the period from January 16 until February 12.

The guards also managed to arrest 2,770 people while attempting to illegally cross the western and southern borders, according to armed forces spokesman Tamer al-Rifai, adding that the army detected and destroyed four tunnel openings on the border strip in North Sinai.

On Saturday, the army announced that seven terrorists and 14 others were injured in North Sinai in fire exchange after they attacked a force concentration. According to the army, 15 Egyptian soldiers were killed and injured during the attack, which ISIS claimed the responsibility for.

Since the army's overthrow of president Mohamed Morsi in 2013, a number of soldiers have been killed in attacks by extremist groups.

The General Secretariat of the Organization of the Islamic Cooperation (OIC) condemned the terrorist attack on a security checkpoint in North Sinai.

OIC Sec-Gen, Yousef bin Ahmed al-Othaimeen, expressed his sincere condolences to the families of the victims and to the Egyptian Government. He stressed the OIC solidarity and stand with Egypt in the face of terrorism aimed at destabilizing its security and stability and support for all the measures Cairo would take to protect security and stability, and the safety of its citizens against the schemes of the terrorist organizations and groups.

Othaimeen reiterated the Organization’s principled position condemning terrorism in all its forms and manifestations.

Also, Arab Parliament Speaker Mishaal bin Fahm al-Salami condemned a deadly terrorist attack that targeted the security checkpoint in Arish.

In a statement on Sunday, Salami strongly condemned the attack in North Sinai and asserted the support of the Arab Parliament to Egypt in its war against terror.

Salami lauded the Egyptian Armed Forces and their efforts to maintain stability in the country.



World Bank Presents $1 Billion Program for Lebanon Reconstruction

A man walks past the rubble of buildings that were destroyed in Israeli strikes during the latest war in the southern Lebanese village of Ramia near the southern border on March 5, 2025. (Photo by Mahmoud ZAYYAT / AFP)
A man walks past the rubble of buildings that were destroyed in Israeli strikes during the latest war in the southern Lebanese village of Ramia near the southern border on March 5, 2025. (Photo by Mahmoud ZAYYAT / AFP)
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World Bank Presents $1 Billion Program for Lebanon Reconstruction

A man walks past the rubble of buildings that were destroyed in Israeli strikes during the latest war in the southern Lebanese village of Ramia near the southern border on March 5, 2025. (Photo by Mahmoud ZAYYAT / AFP)
A man walks past the rubble of buildings that were destroyed in Israeli strikes during the latest war in the southern Lebanese village of Ramia near the southern border on March 5, 2025. (Photo by Mahmoud ZAYYAT / AFP)

The World Bank has presented a $1 billion program for the reconstruction of Lebanon, the Lebanese prime minister's office said in a statement on Wednesday.

The program would include $250 million as a loan, with the rest of the financing to come from international aid, it added.

The cost of reconstruction and recovery for Lebanon following the 14-month Israel-Hezbollah war is estimated at $11 billion, the World Bank said in a new report Friday.
The war killed over 4,000 people in Lebanon, displaced hundreds of thousands and caused widespread destruction in the nation.
The report by the World Bank’s Lebanon Rapid Damage and Needs Assessment covered damage and losses in ten sectors across the country from Oct. 8, 2023 until Dec. 20, 2024.
A US-brokered ceasefire went into effect in late November.