The Egyptian army announced on Tuesday that three officers and 11 gunmen were killed in the ongoing operation in Sinai to rid the peninsula of terrorists.
Col. Tamer al-Rifai, a military spokesman, said three other officers and four conscripts were wounded in the fighting. He said Egyptian forces foiled a suicide attack and killed 11 gunmen.
The army announced that it has destroyed hundreds of targets and killed dozens of militants since the offensive began on February 9. A total of 10 troops have been killed since then.
Egypt has for years been struggling to contain an insurgency concentrated in northern Sinai and spearheaded by a local affiliate of the ISIS group. Attacks have surged since the 2013 and the violence has also spread to the mainland.
The latest security campaign is targeting terrorists in the Sinai Peninsula as well as the Nile Delta and the Western Desert, including areas along the porous border with Libya.
Egyptian Chief of Staff Lt. Gen. Mohamed Farid said Tuesday that some 60,000 soldiers and 335 aircraft are taking part in the offensive.
Speaking at a military ceremony attended by President Abdul Fattah al-Sisi, Farid called for the operation to be extended, saying troops needed more time to dismantle terrorist fortifications and clear explosives out of residential neighborhoods.
