Egypt’s Defense Minister General Mohamed Zaki, continued the implementation and development of the comprehensive operation “Sinai 2018”, during his visit to the operations center of the armed forces at the east canal headquarters, Daily News Egypt reported.

Zaki heard a detailed presentation from the commanders of the Second and Third Field Army, including the size and composition of participating forces, as well as the measures taken to develop combat activities in the areas of combating terrorism.

He also listened to efforts of the completion and elimination of terrorist elements and the controlling of areas that were previously cleared, in order to avoid terrorist elements from infiltrating them again or receiving any logistical support.

The minister expressed that the armed forces efforts create “a favorable climate for investment and overall development in Sinai and to provide a decent life to its children.”

Moreover, Zaki also warned militants by saying, “the armed forces will continue with all the persistence on uprooting terrorism and extremism.”

The Minister concluded praising the “outstanding performance of all participating forces and the coordination of information and security with the concerned bodies,” saying that, “it resulted in the achievement of many positive results over the last period.”

An extensive military operation, dubbed “Sinai 2018”, has been ongoing in the region since 9 February, led by the armed forces to kill dozens of alleged militants. In November 2017, President Abdel Fattah Al-Sisi vowed to restore stability by eradicating terrorism, placing the military and police in charge of completing the task within a period of three months. This was following a massive, first-of-its-kind terror attack on a mosque in Arish which killed at least 305 citizens.

On 28 July 2018, Egypt’s President Abdel-Fattah El-Sisi announced the promotion of Defense Minister Mohamed Zaki from the rank of Lieutenant General to General, the second highest rank in Egypt’s Armed Forces, ahramonline reported then.

Zaki was sworn in on 14 June 2018 as Defense Minister to succeed former Defense Minister Sedki Sobhy.

He was appointed as the Head of the Republican Guard in August 2012. He was promoted to Lieutenant General in January 2017.

General Mohamed Zaki was born in 1956. He served in the infantry and participated in the campaign to liberate Kuwait in 1991.