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REUTERS
CAIRO
Human Rights Watch accused Egypt on Tuesday of mass demolition of homes in the Sinai Peninsula, some of which it said might be illegal, as the military fights an Islamist militants insurgency in the remote desert region. The New York-based rights watchdog said demolitions, which have taken place in recent years to create buffer zones on borders such as that with Gaza, had increased significantly. They were also being used to punish suspected militants and their relatives. Egypt's military did not immediately comment on the report. It has rejected previous reports by HRW on Sinai, saying they relied on"undocumented sources". Egypt in February launched a highly-publicised operation against Islamic State militants who have waged years of attacks against security forces and more recently against civilians in which hundreds of people have been killed.
