Egyptian police have killed six militants who allegedly adhered to the Daesh Takfiri group’s ideology when a gunfight erupted during a raid on their Nile valley hideout, the government says.
The militants opened fire on police as they approached the hideout in Dairut, a town in the southern province of Assiut, the Interior Ministry said in a statement on its Facebook page.
Police were acting on intelligence that "a group of terrorists who adhere to the beliefs of [Daesh] were hiding in a residential apartment in uninhabited buildings," it said.
When the six militants opened fire, the police shot back and killed them.
The militants were using the hideout as "an organizational base and to prepare to carry out a series of terrorist operations within the southern provinces," said the ministry.
Police found a bomb, five automatic weapons, ammunition, military uniforms, and "educational publications containing the concepts and slogans” of Daesh, it added.
Daesh has been leading a deadly insurgency that has killed hundreds of policemen and soldiers since the army overthrew former president Mohamed Morsi in 2013 and started a crackdown on his supporters.
While Daesh has been operating mainly in North Sinai, they have also carried out attacks in other parts of the country, including Cairo.
The extremists have been increasingly targeting Christians in their campaign as well.
Groups other than Daesh have also carried out attacks in Egypt, targeting policemen and judges. Gunmen on Friday shot dead a National Security Service officer as he was leaving his home north of Cairo. The militant group Hasam claimed responsibility for the attack.
On Saturday, the Interior Ministry said police had killed two senior Hasam members in a shootout near Cairo.
(Source: AFP)