Security forces killed 15 suspected militants in aerial raids on North Sinai's Sheikh Zuweid early Tuesday, and killed 4 more in a shelling of a vehicle in the same area, sources said.
Police sources said houses allegedly used by Ansar Bayt al-Maqdis, Egypt's deadliest militant group, were raided with apaches, leaving 15 alleged militants killed and at least seven more injured. Tribal sources reported the sound of explosions as apaches hovered over the region.
Army sources added that unmanned aircrafts are used to locate "extremists" so that the "shelling could be accurate."
A child also received a gunshot wound to the head during clashes between security forces and "extremists" in North Sinai's Rafah, security sources said. Medical sources added that the wounded child is in "critical condition"; he has been taken to the Arish General Hospital.
The child was playing outside his house in a village south of Rafah when the incident occurred, tribal sources said.
Militancy has surged in Egypt since July 2013, with the Sinai Peninsula being the most heavily affected part of the country, although attacks have taken place in other parts including Cairo.
At least 30 people were killed and 50 others were injured on January 29 in four separate attacks against security installations in the governorate.
The attack is the deadliest since a similar attack on the Peninsula last October. At least 30 military personnel were killed in a suicide operation which targeted a security checkpoint in Sinai's Sheikh Zuweid on October 24, 2014.
Ansar Bayt al-Maqdis claimed responsibility for the January attack, as well as October's attack. The group changed its name to Sinai Province after pledging allegiance to Islamic State fighters in Syria and Iraq last November.
