Egypt air strike kills 20 after Sinai attacks
Egypt's President Mohamed Morsi sacked his spy chief and two generals yesterday after a deadly ambush on soldiers prompted the military to launch unprecedented air strikes on militants in the Sinai.
The government appeared set on regaining control of Sinai, where 16 soldiers were killed in a militant ambush on the weekend which exposed Egypt's weak grip on the lawless peninsula despite a bolstered military presence since last year.
The changes in the military and intelligence ranks came as the army declared tentative victory against the Islamist militants on Wednesday, hours after state television reported 20 militants killed in air strikes.
The campaign to uproot the militants was launched on Tuesday, two days after gunmen ambushed a border guard outpost near Israel's border and killed the 16 soldiers, the military said in a statement.
"Elements from the armed forces and interior ministry supported by the air force began a plan to restore security by pursuing and targeting armed terrorist elements in Sinai, and it has accomplished this task with complete success," it said.
It would continue "continue implementing this plan," it added in a statement, which did not provide details of the operation.
Morsi's spokesman said the president ordered intelligence chief Murad Muwafi to retire, and the replacement of the Republican Guard's chief as well as the head of the military police, Major General Hamdi Badeen.
The spokesman, Yassir Ali, did not connect the changes to the attack, but a senior official close to Morsi told AFP the shuffle was ordered because of the Sinai incident.
Morsi also sacked the governor of North Sinai, Abdel Wahab Mabruk.
The reports of the Egyptian raids in Sinai were welcomed in Israel.
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