(AFP File Photo)
Ten alleged militants were killed and 18 others were arrested in an exchange of gunfire between security forces and militant groups in North Sinai, according to a Sunday military spokesman statement.
The detainees participated in attacks on military and police personnel in Sinai, claimed the statement.
The armed forces are currently carrying out heightened counterinsurgency operations in North Sinai, including the destruction of smuggling tunnels connecting the border town of Rafah to the Gaza Strip, the creation of a 1km “secure zone” along the Egypt-Gaza border, a three-month state of emergency, and a night time curfew in some areas.
The security measures came in response to militant attacks on the 24 October which killed at least 30 soldiers, after which the armed forces vowed “to totally eliminate terrorism” in North Sinai.
The attacks were claimed by Ansar Beit Al-Maqdis. The Sinai-based militant group recently pledged allegiance to Islamic State in Al-Sham and Iraq (ISIS) and renamed itself the “State of Sinai”.
