During Yom Kippur war Egypt captured about 50 M60A1 tanks, some of them in repairable condition. Egypt steadily purchased 700 M60A1s from US surpluses in Europe from 1979 to 1988. Some additional 1,016 M60A3s were purchased from the United States and Austria between 1990 and 2002. Egypt had contracted with General Dynamics Land Systems to convert 400 M60A1s to the M60A3 standard during the 1990s. Egypt has employed its M60A1s and A3s in participation of semi-annual Bright Star exercises. Egypt's military is currently engaged in the ongoing Sinai insurgency and has stationed troop and armor assets to the Sinai and Gaza border in early 2018 to quell Islamist terrorist activity and destroying many of the tunnels used by Hamas to bring supplies into Gaza. According to the Egypt Defense Portal, the vehicles, which included YPR-765 armored infantry fighting vehicles and 30 M60A3 main battle tanks, were stationed near Gaza in preparation for an expanded military campaign in the framework of Comprehensive Operation – Sinai 2018, which began last February. The militant group Sinai Province claimed responsibility for an attack on an army-owned M60 tank in October 2018 in the northern Sinai. The group posted pictures of the attack on Twitter accounts allegedly operated by Sinai Province members, claiming that they planted an improvised explosive device (IED) on a side road linking the neighboring cities of Al-Arish and Sheikh Zuweid, which exploded while the tank was passing destroying the vehicle and left an Egyptian officer dead and four infantrymen injured. Egypt has been awarded a contract to assemble M1 Abrams tanks under license in Egypt with the goal of retiring M60s from Egyptian service.