Cairo - Egyptian security forces have killed “terrorists” in a shootout in the north of the Sinai Peninsula, where Daesh is active, an interior ministry source said Sunday.
The Egyptian army has since February been conducting a major operation focused on Sinai to wipe out Daesh.
The deadly exchange of fire took place in the coastal city of Al Arish after the authorities received information that “terrorist elements” were hiding in the area, the source said.
Twelve militants were killed in the shootout, the source said, without reporting any casualties among security forces or specifying when the incident took place.
Guns, ammunition and explosive devices were discovered at the scene, the source said.
Militants launched an insurgency in Sinai after the 2013 ouster of Egypt’s Islamist president Mohammad Morsi.
The military says that over 250 suspected extremists and at least 35 soldiers have been killed in its “Sinai 2018” operation.
