Egypt to launch air raids against 'terrorist targets'

Operation Eagle is to continue in the Sinai region to clear the area of militants The Egyptian army is preparing to carry out air attacks against "terrorist targets" in hideouts near the cities of Rafah and Arish in North Sinai governorate, a military source said to Arabstoday. The campaign is part of "Operation Eagle" launched recently by the Egyptian army in the troubled peninsula.
The source added that army helicopters have scanned the entire territory of Sinai to locate the sites where the militants are hiding.
"That includes the mountainous and desert areas, as well as the cultivated areas, as land forces will move to these areas in order to clear them from gunmen," the source said.
He added the land forces will be supported by ground missiles, armoured vehicles, tanks and large number of soldiers.
Egypt's state TV has earlier reported the Egyptian army's new Chief of Staff Major General Sidki Sobhi visited the army troops deployed in Sinai on Saturday. He was accompanied by air force commander General Youness Hamed.
Egyptian security officials say militants fired a rocket-propelled grenade at a security convoy in the Sinai Peninsula, wounding three military officers and a policeman.
The officials say the attack Saturday morning took place along a major road linking northern Sinai's main city of el-Arish to the Egypt-Gaza border town of Rafah.
The troops were returning from a raid on homes of suspected militants and had arrested two people.
Meanwhile, military expert Talaat Abu Musallam has expected that the military raid in Sinai still has a long way to go, due to geographical difficulties and large groups of militants present due to weak security in the area since January 2011, after the Egyptian revolution that ousted former president Hosni Mubarak broke out.
 Speaking to Arabstoday, Musallam urged Sinai's tribal leaders to cooperate with Egyptian security forces by leading them to militant hideouts, in order to clear the "criminals" from the region.
The military expert said that the numbers of military and police soldiers in Sinai must be raised in the long run, "even after the end of Operation Eagle", in order to prevent the "terrorists" from returning to the region.
 A number of Sinai's tribal leaders have already voiced their backing for the Egyptian army's campaign in the governorate. They vowed "to do everything possible" to support the army's efforts to restore stability in the region.
 Some liberal political parties like the Free Egyptians and the Democratic Front offered to work in coordination with the army on collecting information about the armed groups in Sinai from their internet forums.   
Egypt's state TV on Saturday quoted a military source as saying that Operation Eagle will not be suspended during the Eid al-Fitr holiday, "as the campaign will continue until Sinai is completely cleared of terrorist groups."