Egypt defends Libya airstrikes, says terror training camps were destroyed

Egyptian Foreign Minister Sameh Shoukry speaks during a joint press conference at the Foreign Ministry in the Jordanian capital Amman on May 14, 2017. (Photos by AFP)

Egypt has defended attacking militant training camps in Libya, noting that the terrorists' facilities were completely destroyed.

Egyptian Foreign Minister Sameh Shoukry made the remarks on Saturday during a meeting with his US counterpart, Secretary of State Rex Tillerson.

On Friday, Egyptian military carried out several airstrikes against purported terrorist training camps in Libya after gunmen attacked a bus carrying Coptic Christians south of the Egyptian capital Cairo, leaving at least 28 dead.   

Following the attack, the Daesh Takfiri terrorist group claimed responsibility for the deaths in Cairo.   

"There was enough information and evidence of the terrorist elements involved in the (attack) having trained in these camps," said a statement released by the Egyptian Foreign Ministry.

"The air force has conducted several intensive day and night-time strikes. They targeted several gatherings of terrorist elements within Libyan territory after coordinating and fully verifying all information," added the statement.        

It refrained from giving the exact locations of the training camps but said they were located in the country's eastern regions.    

"The strikes led to the destruction of the planned targets, which included concentrated areas for the training of terrorist elements that participated in the planning and implementation of the Minya attack," it added.

Relatives of killed Coptic Christians look on as they gather during the funeral at Abu Garnous Cathedral in the north Minya town of Maghagha, on May 26, 2017.

The attack came after church bombings in December and April claimed by Daesh that killed dozens of Egypt's Coptic Christians. The Takfiri terrorists have threatened more attacks against the Arab country's Christian minority.

Two deadly church bombings in Alexandria and Tanta took more than 45 lives in April, and nearly 30 people were killed in the Daesh-claimed attack on a church in the capital Cairo in December.

The Takfiri terrorist group has vowed that it would continue to target Christians, who make up about one tenth of Egypt's population of more than 92 million.