Egypt’s police say 5 militants killed, 6 arrested near Cairo

CAIRO – Egypt’s Interior Ministry says security forces have killed five suspected militants in a shootout in a province about 150 kilometres (93 miles) east of Cairo.

It says in a statement Monday police have arrested another six militants in follow up raids on a desert area in the Sharqiya province.

It adds police found bomb-making materials, assault rifles and ammunition at the site.

Egypt’s military and security forces have been waging a yearslong campaign against militants, mainly in the northern region of the Sinai peninsula — where Islamic extremists carried out the country’s deadliest attack last month, killing 305 people — and the country has been in a state of emergency for months.