Egypt’s air forces destroyed 10 vehicles on the country’s western border with Libya

Egypt’s air forces destroyed 10 vehicles laden with smuggled weapons and ammunition on the country’s western border with Libya, military spokesman said on Wednesday.

The Egyptian Air Force said in a statement on Wednesday that the Air Force had “dealt a new blow to smugglers and infiltrators across the border where it was able to target and destroy 10 4WD vehicles loaded with quantities of weapons and ammunition before being smuggled into the country across the western border.”

He pointed out that “confirmed intelligence had reported that a number of SUVs attempted to penetrate the international border line, and on orders from the General Command of the Armed Forces, the Air Force coordinated with the Department of Military Intelligence and reconnaissance to confirm the coordinates of targets and the tracking of vehicles infiltrating across the border and to deal with and destroy completely” .

The move comes as part of the continued efforts by the air forces in cooperation with the border guard to secure the country’s borders at all directions and to thwart cross-border infiltration and smuggling attempts, the statement read, Xinhua news agency reported.

Since May, the Egyptian air force has destroyed more than 100 vehicles loaded with arms while attempting to cross the Egyptian-Libyan border.

Egyptian President Abdel-Fattah al-Sisi recently said that Egypt destroyed 1,200 vehicles loaded with arms, ammunition and fighters at borders with Libya over the past 30 months.

Egypt is concerned about its 1,200 km western border with eastern Libya that has been a smuggling destination of arms and militants over the past few years.

The country has been working with Libya’s neighbouring states to reach a political settlement in Libya, which is torn by a civil war and run by two rival administrations, one in the capital Tripoli northwestern the country and the other in Tobruk city in the northeast.

Egypt sees Libya’s stability necessary for maintaining its own national security, secure its western border and uproot the cross-border terrorism.