9 militants killed in Egypt s police raid

Cairo Dec 25 (IANS) Nine terrorists were killed in a security raid conducted in the northeastern Egyptian province of Sharqiya Egypt s Interior Ministry announced on Sunday.

Egyptian security forces killed the terrorists in a fire exchange during a raid on a farm in Sharqiya which was used as a hideout and a training camp for terrorists involved in attacks in North Sinai the ministry said in a statement Xinhua reported.

In another anti-terror raid conducted in the Egyptian capital of Cairo nine terror suspects were arrested with a machine gun ammunition and explosives in their possession the statement said.

It added that four of the nine arrested have been involved in a checkpoint attack in July that wounded a conscript and a civilian as the police found with them a statement they prepared to claim responsibility for it.

"A laptop was also found with them containing photos of the cell s members while training on using weapons in desert areas " said the statement.

Egypt has been facing a wave of terrorist activities since the military ousted former Islamist President Mohamed Morsi in July 2013 in response to mass protests against his one-year reign and his currently outlawed Muslim Brotherhood group.

According to the police statement investigation showed that the Brotherhood provided financial support for the arrested group that has been plotting a series of attacks against state institutions.

Terrorist attacks have killed hundreds of policemen soldiers Coptic Christians and Muslim worshippers in the past years. Most of the attacks were claimed by a Sinai-based militant group loyal to the Islamic State (IS) regional terror group.

Meanwhile the Egyptian security forces have killed hundreds of terrorists and arrested a similar number of suspects during the country s anti-terror war declared by President Abdel-Fattah al-Sisi then the army chief following Morsi s ouster.

--IANS
ahm/