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Publish date22 Oct 2017 - 12:31
Story Code : 289811

Egypt gun battle death toll rises to 52

According to security sources, at least 52 Egyptian police and conscripts were killed and six more wounded in a gun battle during a raid on a suspected militant hideout in the western desert.
Egypt gun battle death toll rises to 52

"At least 30 police were killed. Egypt is battling a militant insurgency concentrated in the Sinai peninsula from two main groups, including a Daesh affiliate, that has killed hundreds of security forces since 2013," security sources stressed.

The interior ministry released a statement on the operation on Friday but has so far not given any details on casualties. At least 23 police officers were killed and the other victims were conscripts, the sources said.

Security sources on Friday said authorities were following a lead to a militant camp in the desert where eight suspected members of Hasm Movement were believed to be hiding. The group has claimed attacks around Cairo targeting judges and police.

A convoy of four SUVs and one interior ministry vehicle was ambushed from higher ground by militants firing rocket-propelled grenades and detonating explosive devices, one senior security source said.

Militants are mostly fighting in remote northern Sinai where the Ansar Bayt al-Maqdis group pledged allegiance to Daesh in 2014. Attacks mostly hit police and armed forces, but militants have also targetted Egypt’s Christians and tourists.

/SR
 
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