Cairo: Egyptian security forces on Friday killed 12 “dangerous terrorists” in clashes south-west of Cairo amid an intensified crackdown on militants, the state Middle East News Agency reported.
The latest fight erupted after police conducted a raid on “terrorist elements” in the south-western province of the New Valley, the agency said, citing a senior official at the Interior Ministry.
“When the forces arrived in the area, the terrorist elements started firing intensely at the forces that responded and clashed with them,” the official added.
A large cache of weapons was seized from the crime scene.
“Combing operations are ongoing in the area to arrest all terrorist elements,” the official said without giving further details.
There has been no claim of responsibility for the incident, although some media reports suggested hardline militants were sneaking in from Libya.
The clashes come a week after dozens of policemen were killed in an exchange of fire with extremists in Egypt’s western desert.
Official numbers put the number of killed at 16 while other media put the number at 54.
Earlier this week, police arrested 12 suspected militants in the province of Fayyoum, around 100km south-west of Cairo.
The Interior Ministry said the detainees were members of the militant Hasm group, which authorities accuse of being the armed wing of the now-banned Muslim Brotherhood. Hasm has claimed responsibility for a series of attacks on security forces in Egypt in recent months.
Egypt has experienced a wave of militant attacks mainly against security forces since the army’s 2013 toppling of Islamist president Mohammad Mursi, who hails from the Brotherhood, following enormous protests against his rule.
Most attacks were claimed by Daesh.
