Egyptian security forces killed 11 suspected militants in a gun battle during a raid on their hideout in Al-Arish, capital of North Sinai province, the ministry of interior said.
A ministry statement said suspects used the hideout as a base to launch “hostile operations” and weapons and explosives were found.
The suspects were killed in a firefight, the ministry said without elaborating on their identity or casualties among the security forces.
Egypt has long been fighting Islamist militants, who wage an insurgency that killed hundreds of soldiers, police and residents, in the northern Sinai Peninsula.
A Reuters investigation in April found Egyptian security forces shot dead hundreds of suspected militants in what the Interior Ministry said were gun battles, but bereaved families said were extrajudicial executions.
Human rights organisations accuse Egypt of extrajudicial executions and trying civilians in military courts as part of the crackdown.
President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi said human rights should be treated in the context of regional turbulence and the struggle against terrorism. Strong security measures, he said, are needed to stabilise Egypt in the turmoil following the 2011 uprising.
