Egypt's presidential hopeful Moussa Mostafa Moussa has expressed his strong support for the Egyptian armed forces' Operation Sinai 2018, saying the armed forces is "combating the brute terrorism that aims to disrupt the Egyptian course."

"We have followed with pride the comprehensive military Operation Sinai 2018, which the army is carrying out in cooperation with the police and other state institutions to purge precious Sinai from the dissolute elements which receive foreign funding to work against our people and country," the statement read.

Moussa called on Egyptians to stand together to support the armed forces and police against "such terrorist organizations and those with foreign agendas who support them, and the terrorist Muslim Brotherhood group, in order to eliminate them and save our precious nation."

On Friday, the Egyptian military launched Operation Sinai 2018 “to implement the plan of comprehensive confrontation of terrorist and criminal elements and organisations in North and Central Sinai and other areas in the Nile Delta and the desert areas west of the Nile valley."

In January, Moussa submitted endorsements from 20 MP to the National Election Authority (NEA) to be eligible to run against current Egyptian President Abdel-Fattah El-Sisi in elections that are scheduled for March.

The NEA will announce on 24 February the final list of qualified candidates after nominees' applications have been fully vetted.