CAIRO
Egyptian security forces have killed seven Islamist militants and arrested 15 others in three raids carried out in the Sinai Peninsula's northeastern quadrant, according to a security source.
The raids were carried Saturday evening in the cities of Arish, Rafah and Sheikh Zuwaid of Sinai, the source, who requested anonymity, told The Anadolu Agency early Sunday.
"Security forces clashed with members of the Ansar Beit Al-Maqdis militant group, killing four of them in Sheikh Zuwaid, two in Arish, and one in Rafah," the source said.
"During the raids, security forces arrested 15 militants suspected of belonging to Takfiri groups and destroyed 15 terrorist hotbeds and 11 unlicensed motorbikes," the source added.
In November, Ansar Beit Al-Maqdis – which is active in northern Sinai – swore allegiance to the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) militant group and its leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi.
For more than one year, Egypt has been cracking down on militancy in Sinai – which shares borders with Israel and the Gaza Strip – amid a rise in militant attacks on army and police personnel since the ouster of elected Islamist president Mohamed Morsi two years ago.
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