Egypt army says 27 jihadists killed in Sinai operation

Cairo presses offensive against Islamic State in the peninsula, no word on army casualties

CAIRO — Egypt’s military said on Saturday that 27 jihadists were killed over the last few days in a sweeping operation in the Sinai to quash extremists based in the peninsula.

Six of the jihadists were killed by aerial bombardment on their hideouts while 12 died in a shoot out with police forces, the military said in a statement. It did not say how the other nine were killed.

Security forces also arrested 114 suspects and found and destroyed a training camp which included a shooting range, an obstacle course and an underground conference room, it said.

The military did not say whether any of the security forces were killed in the last few days.

More than 100 jihadists and at least 22 soldiers have been killed in the wider-ranging operation launched on February 9, according to army figures.

Security forces have sought to quell attacks by an Egyptian jihadist group that later declared allegiance to the Islamic State group (IS) since the military ousted Islamist president Mohamed Morsi in 2013, following mass protests against him.

The group has killed hundreds of soldiers, policemen and civilians, mainly in its North Sinai stronghold but also elsewhere in Egypt.

The jihadists have also killed scores of Christians in church bombings and shootings.