Egypt’s police killed 18 “terrorists" in a shootout in North Sinai’s Bir El-Abd city, the interior ministry announced Sunday morning, days after an Islamic State group claimed a terrorist attack in which 10 Egyptian military personnel were “killed or wounded” in the same area.
According to the interior ministry statement, the “terrorists" were killed after raid on a hideout in the southern city of the North Sinai governorate.
The "terrorist elements" used the house as a staging point from which to launch hostile operations, the statement added.
The ministry said it seized 13 automatic weapons, three explosive devices and two suicide belts.
The Egyptian Armed Forces said Thursday that 10 of its military personnel were “killed or wounded” when an improvised explosive device (IED) was detonated in North Sinai.
An officer, a non-commissioned officer, and eight soldiers were killed or injured when their armoured vehicle was blown up in Bir El-Abd city.
This was the first such attack since February when the armed forces thwarted a terrorist attack on a security checkpoint in North Sinai, killing 10 terrorists participating in the attack.
The Islamic State group claimed responsibility for the North Sinai attack Friday, the group’s Amaq news agency said without providing evidence.
Friday’s claim of responsibility came hours after the Egyptian armed forces said it had killed two dangerous “takfiri elements” during a raid.
The military has been carrying out Operation Sinai, a counter-terrorism campaign, since February 2018. The campaign involves land, naval and air forces, as well as police and border guards.
