Egyptian police kill 10 militants from Sinai in two Cairo raids

Egyptian police yesterday killed 10 militants who sneaked into the capital from the northern part of the Sinai Peninsula, where an affiliate of ISIL has been waging an insurgency.

The militants were hiding in two apartments in the densely populated Ard El Liwa neighbourhood, where they met and planned a “series of terror attacks” in Cairo and its twin city of Giza, the interior ministry said.

The ministry said police raided the apartments simultaneously at dawn. Militants in the first apartment fired on the raiders and one of them tried to throw an explosive device at the police, but it killed him instead.

All eight militants in the apartment were killed, it said.

Raiding the second apartment, police again came under fire and a four-hour gun battle ensued, ending with two more militants dead.

The firefights at both apartments wounded five policemen, including two officers, and an officer from the domestic security agency and two criminal investigation personnel.

Police found automatic rifles and ammunition in the apartments and identified six of the 10, two of whom were wanted on terror charges.

The ministry did not say whether the militants belonged to ISIL. It also appeared to rule out they were members of Hasm, as security officials had earlier said.

The breakaway faction of the outlawed Muslim Brotherhood group has targeted police and army officers in Cairo over the past year in a series of attacks.