Egypt bulldozes zone by Sinai airport, displacing thousands
Posted February 02, 2018 6:00 am
CAIRO (AP) - Officials and residents say the Egyptian army is bulldozing homes and olive groves to build a buffer zone around the airport in its troubled North Sinai Province.
The province is where Islamic State group militants targeted the defense and interior ministers in December.
The operation will displace thousands, according to local residents who have been told they will be removed from at least a dozen hamlets around el-Arish airport. They say they are being moved to nearby cities where the government has promised them compensation.
The new fortifications underline how the army is digging in for a longer-term insurgency that shows no sign of abating, despite years of fighting in which hundreds of soldiers have been killed.
FILE - In this July 5, 2013 file photo, Palestinian Hamas security guards stand near an Egyptian watch tower on the border with Egypt in Rafah, southern Gaza Strip. The Egyptian army is bulldozing homes and olive groves in Feb. 2018 to build a buffer zone around the main airport in its troubled North Sinai Province, where Islamic State militants nearly killed the defense and interior ministers in December. The operation, described by residents and military officials, will displace thousands of residents from the hamlets around el-Arish airport, who are being moving to nearby cities where the army says they will receive compensation. (AP Photo/Hatem Moussa, File)
The Associated Press
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