The Sinai Tribes Union, an amalgamation of tribes cooperating with Egyptian security authorities in northern Sinai, announced that two Tarabin tribesmen were killed in clashes with ISIS militants on Friday.
According to a tribesman, speaking under the condition of anonymity, the two were killed by a landmine explosion in the Al-Ajra area, located to the far south of the central Rafah and Sheikh Zuwayed areas.
ISIS had planted landmines in the area before retreating against the push of security forces.
The Sinai Tribes Union identified the two slain tribesmen as Awda Salim Abu Ankeez and Eid Mosleh Abu Masooh. They were combing Al-Ajra at the time of the explosion.
After clashes between security forces backed by Tarabin tribesmen against ISIS, the latter had abandoned its positions south of Rafah and left behind machine guns’ ammunition, the Union reported.
According to the Union, an ISIS key hideout was destroyed in the village of Naje’ Shabanah south of Rafah. During those clashes, many ISIS militants were killed.
Last week, in northern Sinai, four civilians were killed and 13 injured in an attack carried out by masked gunmen in the village of Qabr Amir.
Qabr Amir is one of the many northern Sinai areas that have witnessed fierce confrontations between security officers and ISIS militants since February 2018, when a region-wide security campaign was launched to purge the area of extremists.
Al-Sawarkah tribesman Moussa al-Maniei said that terrorist elements in Al-Ajra, al-Moqataa, and al-lafitat areas are incurring heavy losses due to the intensive security campaign.
