Watch: Egyptian army tank crushes VBIED just before explosion

Surveillance footage of an attempted suicide car bomb attack on an Egyptian armored convoy and civilians in the Sinai shows a dramatic scene after an Egyptian army tank intercepted and crushed the jihadists before they could detonate on their intended target.

The Egyptian military reported the incident on their Facebook page, showing a video, which clearly shows the entire scene unfold. After rapidly approaching a number of Egyptian military armored vehicles, a vehicle reportedly carrying four armed men came to a halt. Recognizing the threat, civilians begin to flee, while the quick-thinking tank crew, realizing they are likely dealing with a suicide bomb, throw the tank into action.

Almost immediately, they engage the vehicle by running it over, at least partially crushing the vehicle and the terrorists inside. Shortly after being crushed, the vehicle is torn apart in a massive explosion, later identified by the Egyptian military as likely containing over 100 kilograms of explosive. Despite having some warning, three men, two women, and two children were killed in the blast. Watch the video below:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8G0wAXR5-ZA

Egypt has been battling an increasingly violent insurgency in the Sinai Peninsula over the last decade, spiking considerably after the Arab Spring in 2011. The Bedouin insurrection, displeased with the Cairo government and their perceived neglect for the region, aligned itself with Islamic State in 2014.

Despite having one of the largest and most well-equipped military’s in the Middle East, Egypt has struggled against the insurgency, losing over 2,000 soldiers so far. News of the conflict rarely gets out to the international community, with the exception of particularly violent and shocking incidents, like the murder of 30 Coptic Christians earlier this summer, and the October 2015 downing of a Russian passenger airplane which killed 224 people at the hands of jihadists in the region.

Egypt remains in an extended state of emergency over the conflict in the Sinai.

 

Featured image courtesy of YouTube.