Egypt Says Six Militants Killed In Police Raid

Egypt’s security forces have killed six Islamic militants in a raid on their desert hideout in the country’ south in the early morning on January 12, the Interior Ministry said in a statement.


It said the police targeted the hideout of "fugitive terrorist elements" in a mountainous area in the province of Sohag, some 460 kilometers south of the capital, Cairo.


Police seized weapons and ammunition, the ministry added.


The suspects had planned terrorist attacks, the statement said without details. No casualties among police were reported.


Egypt’s security forces have been battling Islamic militants since the 2013 ouster of Islamist President Mohammed Morsi, who was forced out by the military amid protests against his rule.


In February 2018, Egypt began an all-out military campaign to wipe out militants, including members of the Islamic State group, in the north of the Sinai Peninsula, with the government throwing into battle tens of thousands of troops, jet-fighters, tanks, and helicopter gunships.


The campaign brought to a halt high-profile attacks blamed on the militants.


Based on reporting by AP, AFP, dpa