Air raids kill 18 militants in Egypt

The Egyptian military killed 18 militants during recent air raids in restive North Sinai province bordering Israel and the Palestinian Gaza Strip, the military spokesman said in a statement on Saturday.

"The air strikes over the past few days killed 18 major, highly dangerous extremist elements in North Sinai's cities of Arish, Rafah and Sheikh Zuweid," spokesman Tamer al-Refaay was quoted by Xinhua as saying.

Since the beginning of March until Saturday, security campaigns in North Sinai have killed at least 30 militants, arrested over 128 suspects over terror-related charges, busted about 300 suspects over different charges including smuggling and illegal migration, ruined several smuggling tunnels, detonated dozens of explosive devices and seized large amounts of weapons and ammunition. Earlier in mid-February, at least three Egyptian soldiers were killed in Central Sinai's Mount Halal area when their armored vehicle was hit by a roadside bomb. Three militants were also killed and three others arrested in subsequent fighting.

Anti-government terror attacks in Egypt have killed hundreds of policemen and soldiers since the mid-2013 military removal of former Islamist president Mohamed Morsi in response to mass protests against his one-year rule.