Egypt kills 15 militants in North Sinai shootout: ministry

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CAIRO, Sept 29, 2019 (BSS/AFP) – Egyptian security forces have killed 15
suspected militants in a shootout in restive north Sinai, the interior
ministry said Sunday.

A militant group was “planning hostile acts targeting military and police
forces…in order to destabilise national security”, the ministry said in a
statement. It did not name a specific group, but said “terrorist elements”
had been hiding in a farm in El-Arish, the capital of North Sinai province.

When forces approached, “the militants shot live rounds forcing troops to
deal with them (and) leading to 15 deaths”.

Graphic pictures of the bodies of the alleged militants were sent along
with the Sunday press release.

Authorities also said they found a small trove of stashed weapons
including an explosive belt, several rifles and an explosive device.

The ministry did not specify when the reported shootout took place, but
Sunday’s announcement follows recent military operations in Sinai that
authorities say killed 118 suspected militants.

Nine soldiers were killed and one wounded in those “counter-terrorism”
operations, a military statement said on Friday.

President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi paid tribute to the dead personnel in a
series of tweets late Friday, describing “terrorism” as a “cancer still
trying to kidnap the nation”.

In February 2018, Egypt’s military launched a nationwide offensive against
Islamist militants, focused mainly on North Sinai, where the Islamic State
group still has a significant presence.

Some 665 suspected jihadists and around 60 soldiers have been killed
since, according to official figures.