Egypt police kill 14 militants after checkpoint attack

By Viola Fahmy

CAIRO (AA) - Egyptian police killed 14 suspected militants involved in a checkpoint attack that left eight policemen dead in North Sinai province, the country’s Interior Ministry said early Thursday.

On Wednesday, at least eight police officers were killed when militants targeted a checkpoint south of Arish. Five of the militants were killed in exchange of fire while the rest of them fled the scene.

"The militants were later located at an abandoned home... in Arish [city]," the ministry said.

Security forces rounded the house and killed 14 militants in Thursday's shootout.

Daesh terrorist group has claimed responsibility for Wednesday's attack.

The Sinai Peninsula has remained the epicenter of a militant insurgency since 2013, when the army ousted Mohamed Morsi -- Egypt's first freely elected president and a Muslim Brotherhood leader -- in a military coup.

* Writing by Mahmoud Barakat