Egypt's al-Sisi predicts long war against Sinai militants
CAIRO - Egyptian President Abdel-Fattah al-Sisi says the war against Islamic militants in the Sinai Peninsula will be long, but that conditions in the vast and arid region were improving.
Speaking in an interview with Egypt's three state-owned newspapers published Saturday, he acknowledged that both the militants and government forces were getting better at fighting each other in the strategic area bordering Israel and the Hamas-ruled Gaza Strip.
"Conditions in Sinai are improving and (our) efforts are continuing because the war is long," said al-Sisi, whose comments came one day after militants from the extremist ISIS group attacked an army checkpoint in Sinai, killing 12 soldiers and wounding at least six more.
