Egypt’s military said Friday seven suspected militants were killed in a raid carried out as part of its operations against insurgents in the restive Sinai Peninsula.
“The armed forces carried out a targeted operation that resulted in the killing of seven takfiris,” the army said in a statement, employing a term used by Egyptian authorities for extremist Islamic militants.
The raid was part of “ongoing efforts of the armed forces to combat terrorism and based on intelligence indicating the presence of a terrorist outpost on a farm in North Sinai”, the statement added.
One suspected militant died during the raid, while six others were killed after troops tracked them to a hideout, an AFP report said.
The military also found 10 explosive devices, four explosive belts, several rifles and ammunition as well as various mobile phones and walkie-talkies as a result of the operation.
Security forces have been battling a long-running Islamist insurgency in the Sinai Peninsula — in Egypt’s northeast — that is spearheaded by a local affiliate of the Islamic State group.
The fighting intensified after the military’s 2013 ouster of Islamist president Mohamed Morsi.
In February 2018, security forces launched a nationwide operation against militants, focused on North Sinai.
More than 930 suspected militants have been killed in the region along with dozens of security personnel, according to official figures