Egypt's Al-Azhar announced on Friday its “full support” for the Egyptian military’s new Operation Sinai 2018, calling on all the Egyptian people "to support the brave men of the army and police in their fight against terrorist and criminal elements."

In a statement, the world's leading Sunni institution praised the sacrifices of the army and police in the confrontation against terrorists so "Egypt can be purged of these elements that have and terrorized and killed citizens," and in order "to foil the attempts to foster chaos and strife to harm the stability of the the homeland."

On Friday morning, the Egyptian armed forces launched a new major operation to confront terrorism in north and central Sinai and other parts of the country.

Al-Azhar also hailed the sacrifices of the residents of Sinai who "have endured suffering caused by "the criminality of such terrorist groups.”