The Egyptian interior ministry indicated Sunday that nine people suspected of belonging to a terror group accused of involvement in attacks on security forces were killed in the Sinai.
The ministry noted that its forces raided a hideout in the Sharqiya province, north-east of the country in the restive province where security and armed forces have been facing repeated attacks.
The cell, that was using a farmhouse as hideout and training center, was involved in attacks on security posts and military apparatus in North Sinai and was plotting further attacks in the province, the ministry noted. Weapons and explosive devices were also seized during the raid.
President Fattah al-Sisi last month gave the army three months to end insurgency in North Sinai. He also allowed the army to use brute force to bring the insurgents on their knees.
Al-Sisi’s instructions came after gunmen, allegedly members of the Islamic State group (IS), killed over 200 people in a mosque in the province last month. The attack was the worst ever in the history of the North Africa country.
A local terror group affiliated to IS has been at the forefront of the insurgency against the state. Attacks have escalated since 2013, following the overthrow of former Islamist President Mohamed Morsi by al-Sisi himself.
The interior ministry said in the same account that nine other alleged terrorists were arrested in another raid in capital Cairo. It said police seized weapons and explosive devices.
Four of the detained, according to the ministry, were involved in a July attack in the capital in which two people were killed.
