Three officers and one soldier died earlier this week while clearing a militant hub in the Bahariya Oasis in Egypt’s western desert. According to the military reports a suicide belt went off at the time the forces entered the hub.
Military spokesperson Tamer el-Refaie said on his Facebook page that the incident took place during ongoing military operations in the western desert bordering Libya.
According to officials the long porous border between Egypt and Libya is used for smuggling arms and fighters. The western desert of Egypt has been the scene of many terrorist attacks in recent years and about a week ago Egypt was again targeted by ISIS. The extremist group killed 29 Coptic Christians in a bus outside Cairo, who were visiting a monastery.
