Egyptian security forces kill five suspected militants in shootout
Egyptian security forces have killed five suspected
militants who were plotting to carry out unspecified "hostile
operations", the interior ministry said on Monday.
The men were killed after they opened fire on
security forces who approached them in a mountainous area of the southern
province of Assiut, the ministry said in a statement.
The forces found ammunition, weapons and
organisational documents at the scene, it said. It did not identify the
suspects nor say whether there had been any casualties or wounded among the
security forces.
President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi ordered the armed
forces last November to defeat Islamist militants within three months after an
attack on a mosque in Sinai killed more than 300 people.
Defeating the militants and restoring security after
years of unrest has been a key promise of Sisi, who was re-elected in March in
a landslide victory against no real opposition.
