Egypt vows to continue Sinai offensive 'until IS removed'

Egypt says its army will continue an offensive in the Sinai Peninsula, after clashes with Islamic State (IS) militants left more than 100 dead.

Operations will not stop until the area is cleared of all "terrorist concentrations", the army said.
Air strikes continued into the early hours of Thursday.
The army says 17 soldiers were among those killed after militants launched near-simultaneous raids on military checkpoints in Sheikh Zuweid and Rafah.
Local reports put army casualties higher.
The attack was one of the largest co-ordinated assaults in the area yet by IS's local affiliate, Sinai Province. The peninsula has been under a state of emergency and a curfew since October, when dozens of soldiers were killed in a militant attack.
Separately on Wednesday, security officials said nine members of the now banned Muslim Brotherhood, including former MP Nasr al-Hafi, had been killed in a police raid on a flat in western Cairo.

The security situation in Egypt has worsened since the assassination of the public prosecutor, Hisham Barakat, three days ago in the capital.
Analysts said the car bomb attack that killed Mr Barakat also bore the hallmarks of Sinai Province, which was known as Ansar Beit al-Maqdis until it pledged allegiance to Islamic State in November and changed its name.

'100% under control'

In a statement, the army said it had killed "100 members of the terrorist elements" and injured them in "large numbers" in fighting in North Sinai.
It said the operation left 17 soldiers, including four officers, dead.
By late on Wednesday, an army spokesman said the situation was "100% under control" and militants had withdrawn from Sheikh Zuweid.