7 militants killed in Sinai by Egypt forces

At least seven militants were killed on Tuesday as the Egyptian armed forces carried out military raids on their hideouts in Rafah city in North Sinai, a security source told Xinhua.

"The seven extremists belonged to Sinai-based Ansar Bayt al-Maqdis (ABM) group and they were involved in the recent kidnapping and killing of a police officer in the peninsula," the source added.

On Tuesday, a police officer who was kidnapped on Sunday in North Sinai, the hub of Islamist militants, was found dead south of Rafah city.

Egypt has been facing a rising wave of terrorism since the ouster of former Islamist President Mohamed Morsi by the military in July 2013 following mass protests against his one-year rule.

The following crackdown on Morsi's supporters has left about 1,000 killed and thousands more injured and arrested. Anti-government attacks have since extended from the restive Sinai to Cairo and other provinces across the country.

The security forces intensified anti-terror military operations and raised alert level in Sinai in the wake of a car-bomb attack that killed around 30 Egyptian soldiers in late October 2014.

The ABM group, which was founded in 2011 and claimed responsibility for dozens of deadly attacks against Egypt's military and police personnel, was designated by Egypt and the United States as a terror organization.

The group has recently pledged allegiance with the regional Islamic State (IS) group in Iraq and changed its name to "Sinai State" as a group loyal to IS leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi. Endit