Police forces announced killing 12 alleged militants in a shootout in Al-Arish, according to a statement by the Ministry of Interior on Sunday.
This came after police officers received information that a group of terrorist elements were using a fenced area close to the Al-Arish police station road as a hideout.
Four automatic rifles, sniper rifles, ammunition, and two explosive devices were seized with the militants.
The armed forces usually helm operations in North Sinai, but in some cases, police forces engage in the fight against militants.
An extensive military operation, dubbed Sinai 2018, has been ongoing in the region since 9 February, leading the armed forces to kill dozens of alleged militants. In November 2017, President Abdel Fattah Al-Sisi vowed to restore stability by eradicating terrorism, placing the military and police in charge of completing the task within a period of three months. This had followed a massive first-of-its-kind terror attack on a mosque in Al-Arish, killing at least 305 citizens.
Since 2013, state security forces, represented by both the military and the police, have been engaged in violent clashes with the “Sinai Province” militant group, a group previously known as Ansar Beit Al-Maqdis. In 2014, the group declared its affiliation with the Islamic State group and has launched deadly attacks on the army and police checkpoints.
