WEB DESK

In Egypt, security forces Thursday killed 14 suspected militants during a raid carried out in the restive Sinai Peninsula in response to a deadly checkpoint attack. Egypt’s interior ministry in a statement today said, security forces tracked down and killed 14 of militants who yesterday killed eight policemen in an attack on a security checkpoint in North Sinai area. The Islamic State extremist group had claimed responsibility for yesterday’s attack near the city of el-Arish.

The security forces surrounded the suspected militants before engaging in a heavy shootout which killed 14 of them, it added. They also found 14 guns, three explosive devices and two explosive belts in their possession. Last year, the army launched a nationwide offensive against the Islamist militants, focused mainly on North Sinai.