Egyptian forces kill 14 militants after checkpoint attack
Egyptian security forces killed 14 militants suspected in an
attack on a police checkpoint in northern Sinai where at least eight policemen
died, the Interior Ministry said in a statement received on Thursday.
The deaths raise to 19 the number of militants killed since
the attack near the North Sinai provincial capital of al-Arish early on
Wednesday, which ISIS claimed responsibility for.
The Interior Ministry said in a statement that security
forces have tracked down militants who escaped after that to an abandoned house
in Masaeed neighborhood in al-Arish.
“While they were being surrounded, they opened fire
extensively toward the forces. They were engaged resulting in the death of 14
terrorist elements,” the statement said.
It said 14 automatic weapons, three explosives devices and
two suicide belts were found in their procession.
The statement did not say if any members of the security
forces had been hurt during the gunfight.
A Reuters investigation in April found that Egyptian
security forces had shot dead hundreds of suspected militants in what the
Interior Ministry said were gun battles but which bereaved families said were
extrajudicial executions.
A Reuters analysis of the ministry statements showed that
deadly shootouts often followed an attack by militants.
Egypt denies any abuses and says its security forces operate
within the country’s legal framework.