Egypt security forces kill five militants

Egyptian police killed five members of the Ansar Bayt al-Maqdis militant group during clashes on Sunday, Agence France-Presse reported.

The militants “opened fire” after security forces raided a farm where they were hiding and preparing bombs, Egypt’s interior ministry said in a statement.

“An exchange of gunfire then took place, causing the deaths of five members of the terrorist cell while a police officer was injured,” it added.

The farm was located in the Nile Delta province of Sharqiya, northeast of Cairo, far from the Sinai Peninsula where Egyptian forces launched an offensive against Islamist militants in October.

A car bomb found at the scene was detonated by remote control, the statement said. Police also seized suicide belts, weapons and ammunition.

Three of the militants killed in the raid were identified as Abdel Fattah Ayed Marzouk Salman, Hamdeen Salman Saad and Mouaz Ibrahim Abdel Rahman -- the son of Ansar Bayt al-Maqdis leader Ibrahim Abdel Rahman who is currently in prison.

Ansar Bayt al-Maqdis, who pledged their allegiance to the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS) militant group, claimed an October 24 suicide bombing that killed 30 soldiers in North Sinai, a brazen attack that sparked a state of emergency.

They group says their attacks are to avenge a government crackdown targeting supporters of ousted Islamist president Mohamed Morsi that has left at least 1,400 people dead.