450 IS militants killed in Sinai offensive

CAIRO: The Egyptian army said on Tuesday that 450 jihadists are estimated to have been killed in its eight-month offensive against the Islamic State group in the Sinai Peninsula.

The military launched a large-scale operation dubbed "Sinai 2018" in February to rid Sinai of IS jihadists after an attack on a mosque in the north of the peninsula that killed more than 300 people.

Since the start of the campaign, 450 jihadists were presumed to have been killed "in the north and the centre of Sinai by (soldiers) and police," army spokesman Tamer al-Rifai told AFP. According to army figures, around 30 soldiers have been killed during the operation.

Jihadists began an insurgency in Egypt after the 2013 ouster of Islamist president Mohamed Mursi, who was forced out by the military in the face of mass protests against his rule and that of his Muslim Brotherhood.

The army on Tuesday rejected criticism from rights groups over the impact on civilians of its campaign in Sinai. It says that people in the peninsula support its operation and receive humanitarian aid. "All air strikes are carried out by the army outside residential areas," Rifai said on Tuesday.