Egypt army kills 17 extremists in Sinai clashes

The Egyptian armed forces killed 17 extremists during armed clashes on Saturday at Sheikh Zuweid city in the restive North Sinai bordering the Palestinian Gaza Strip and Israel, security forces told Xinhua.

"The fierce confrontations went on for hours after militants attacked a military checkpoint south of Sheikh Zuweid and the military forces forced them to retreat and then attacked their hideout at a nearby town and killed 10 of them," the sources added.

Meanwhile, air raids on militants at another town in Sheikh Zuweid killed seven of them, and the forces were still in tough conflicts with the militants.

The extremists are believed to be loyalists of the Sinai-based, al-Qaida-inspired Ansar Bayt al-Maqdis militant group, which has changed its name to "Sinai State" and vowed loyalty to the regional Islamic State militant group.

Also on Saturday, a police recruit was shot dead by a sniper during his service at a guard tower of Sheikh Zuweid police station.

In early July, bloody terrorist attacks on several North Sinai checkpoints killed 17 military men, while the military raids on militants during the following few days killed over 250 of them.

Militant activities mounted in Egypt since the ouster of former Islamist President Mohamed Morsi by the army in July 2013, killing hundreds of police and army personnel, especially in the Sinai Peninsula. Endit