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EGYPT-UNREST-SINAI
Egypt says 13 militants killed in North Sinai
CAIRO, Oct 29, 2019 (BSS/AFP) – Egyptian security forces killed 13
suspected militants in a raid in the restive North Sinai, the interior
ministry said Tuesday.
Police raided a hideout in a deserted farm house in El-Arish, provincial
capital of North Sinai, triggering a shootout, the ministry said in a
statement.
Weapons including explosive devices, rifles and guns were found, it said,
without giving the date of the operation.
Egypt has for years been fighting an insurgency in North Sinai that
escalated after the military’s 2013 ouster of Islamist president Mohamed
Morsi following mass protests.
The military has launched a nationwide offensive since February 2018
against Islamist militants focusing on North Sinai where a local affiliate of
the Islamic State group is based.
Some 750 suspected jihadists and around 60 soldiers have since been killed,
according to official figures.
BSS/AFP/FI/ 1658 hrs