The Egyptian Ministry of the Interior said that 18 armed men whom it described as "terrorists" were killed in an exchange of fire during a raid in the vicinity of the city of Bir al-Abd in North Sinai, three days after the bombing of an armored vehicle for the army in the same city, killing the army.
"Information was available to the National Security Sector about a group of terrorist elements taking a house in the vicinity of the city of Bir al-Abd, North Sinai, Kara, and a springboard to carry out their hostilities," the ministry statement said.
The statement said that their hiding area had been targeted and exchanges of fire with those elements had resulted, killing 18 elements.
In the statement, the Egyptian Interior added that automatic weapons, explosive devices and two explosive belts were found.
An explosion and victims,
On Thursday, an Egyptian military spokesman said that an explosive device had exploded in an armored vehicle south of the city of Bir al-Abd, killing one officer and a non-commissioned officer, and eight soldiers were killed and wounded.
The spokesman added that the armed forces confirm the continuation of their hostilities against what he described as terrorist elements to preserve the security and stability of the country.
While the Egyptian military spokesman did not specify the number of those killed in the bombing, a Facebook page that tracks developments in Sinai reported that ten soldiers were killed and three others were wounded.
The page published a list of the victims' names, while activists stated that the explosion occurred before breakfast.
The Egyptian army and security forces in North Sinai are under attack, often adopted by the Sinai Province organization, which declares its affiliation with the Islamic State, and in early 2018 the army began a massive military operation during which it said that it killed dozens of militants.