By Mohamed al-Rayes
CAIRO (AA) – Egyptian security forces killed 15 militants in a raid in the restive Sinai Peninsula, according to the country’s interior ministry on Wednesday.
In a statement, the ministry said it had received a tip-off about plans by militants to carry out hostile attacks on October 6, which marks Egypt’s celebration of a military victory against Israel during the 1973 Middle East war.
Security forces raided a farm in the North Sinai city of Arish, triggering clashes in which 15 militants were killed, the statement said.
A cache of weapons was seized during the raid, according to the statement.
Sinai has remained the epicenter of a militant insurgency since mid-2013, when Mohamed Morsi -- Egypt’s first freely elected president -- was ousted in a military coup.
On October 6, 1973, Egypt and Syria waged a war against Israel to retake Egypt’s Sinai Peninsula and Syria’s Golan Heights.
The war eventually led to Israel's withdrawal from Sinai after Camp David peace agreement in 1979 while the Golan Heights remain under the Israeli occupation.