Cairo: Egyptian security forces had killed 18 terrorists in a shootout during a swoop in North Sinai, the Interior Ministry said Sunday. The incident comes three days after 10 Egyptian army troops were killed or injured in an explosion claimed by the terrorist Daesh group in North Sinai.
The Interior Ministry added that security forces had raided a house used as a terror den near the town of Baer Al Abd in North Sinai and exchanged fire with the terrorists there, killing 18 of them.
The forces found in their possession 13 automatic rifles, three explosive packages and two explosive belts, the ministry added in a statement.
“This [raid] is part of the ministry’s efforts in tracking and hunting the terrorist elements involved in carrying out cowardly terrorist operations against the Armed Forces, police and state economic capabilities,” it said.
Egypt has experienced a spate of militant attacks since the army’s 2013 ouster of Islamist president Mohammad Mursi following enormous street protests against his rule in 2013
