Egypt’s Ministry of Interior (MoI) announced on Sunday that it has killed 15 militants in gunfight during a security raid in Al-Obour neighbourhood in Al-Arish, North Sinai.
Automatic rifles, explosive devices, and explosive belts were found in the killed militants’ possessions, according to a statement from the ministry.
The Ministry of Interior said that the 15 men were terrorist elements involved in targeting the armed forces and the police and destabilising security.
According to the statement, the National Security Agency has received information that a group of militants were lurking in Al-Obour area in Al-Arish, who were preparing to conduct aggressive plans.
When the militants sensed the security forces approaching, they fired shots at them, and then the forces responded to the attack in an operation resulted in killing 15 members of this group.
Egypt is currently battling several armed groups, concentrated mainly in the Sinai Peninsula, since the ouster of Islamist former President Mohamed Morsi in July 2013. Since then, shootings that target police, army officers, and state officials have become a near weekly occurrence in Egypt.
On 9 February, Egypt’s security forces launched the extensive military operation in Sinai dubbed Sinai 2018. The operation includes navy, air force, and infantry forces. It aims to target “hideouts and ammunition storages that are being used by terrorist elements,” according to previous statement from the armed forces.
