AL-ARISH, Egypt - Egyptian forces swept the Sinai peninsula Friday for men suspected of deadly October 2004 resort bombings, sparking clashes that left a policeman and a gunman dead, security sources said. Acting on a tip, 1,000 police launched an operation in the centre of the Red Sea peninsula and were met with armed resistance from the suspects and the Bedouin tribes protecting them, the sources said.
One of suspects targeted by the raid, Salem Kheidr al-Shnub, was killed as well as one Egyptian policeman, Fathi Mohammed Abdel Hamid, the sources said. Three other policemen were wounded.
According to official figures, 34 people, including several Israeli tourists, were killed and more than 10 wounded on October 7 in triple bomb attacks on the Hilton Hotel Taba and two other neighbouring resorts. The Egyptian interior ministry had said that several of the suspects were killed or arrested in previous raids.
Security services detained hundreds of people in the Sinai region following the bombings, sparking a string of protests from detainees' relatives and criticism from rights groups. |