Egypt's Prosecutor-General Nabil Sadek referred on Monday 43 suspects to military trial over their involvement in the deadly Wahat terrorist attack.
In October 2017, 16 policemen were killed and 13 injured in a shootout while raiding a terrorist hideout in Bahariya Oasis, about 135 kilometers southwest of Cairo.
At the time, police said terrorists hiding in the Bahariya Oasis were planning to launch a series of terrorist attacks inside Egyptian provinces. Fifteen terrorists were killed during the shootout.
Egyptian President Abdel Fatah el-Sisi later visited freed Police Captain Mohamed al-Hayes in the hospital, after the latter was being held by the terrorists.
Investigations revealed that Libyan terrorist Abdel-Rahim Mohammed Abdullah, who is the main defendant in the Wahat case, was trained by Egyptian terrorist Emad al-Din Ahmed, killed in an air strike on the Western Desert.
The Libyan defendant was trained in military camps inside the Libyan territories on the use of heavy weapons and the manufacturing of bombs.
Abdul-Rahim had infiltrated inside Egypt to establish a military training camp in the Wahat desert area ahead of planning a series of terrorist attacks against Christian religious worship places and some vital installations.
The prosecutors have charged Abdul-Rahim and the other defendants in the case with premeditated murder, attempted murder, membership in a terrorist group and attacks on army and police personnel, among other charges.
Earlier this month, the Libyan National Army (LNA) announced that Hesham El-Ashmawy, a fugitive Egyptian terrorist who is believed to be have been involved in the Wahat attack, was apprehended in Derna. Commenting on the clashes in Egypt's Western Desert, Sisi said that infallibly guarding 1,200-kilo meter borders in a desert area like the Sahara is not possible.
The Western desert constitutes a headache for the Egyptian security for its closeness to the Libyan border, which has witnessed security and political conflicts in the past years, allowing terrorists members to cross into Egypt and use the desert for terrorist attacks.
