Egyptian soldiers kill five Islamist militants

The troops tracked down the militants in the settlement of Al Goura as they searched for those who killed 16 Egyptian border guards and tried to infiltrate Israel a week ago.

EL ARISH, EGYPT // Egyptian soldiers killed five Islamist militants after storming their hideout near the border with Israel yesterday, the latest action in an army campaign to reimpose authority on the region, security sources and eyewitnesses said.

The troops tracked down the militants in the settlement of Al Goura, about 15 kilometres from the frontier, as they searched for those who killed 16 Egyptian border guards and tried to infiltrate Israel a week ago.

The latest clash is part of a security sweep that began last Wednesday and is the biggest military operation in the region since Egypt's 1973 war with Israel. No one has claimed responsibility for killing the border guards.

Security sources said five people were killed - three from bullet wounds and two more whose scorched bodies were found in the hut that was burned.

"People in the area supplied information that there was a group of unidentified people staying in a makeshift hut. The area was immediately raided. The group opened fire and the police returned fire," one police source said.

In addition to the five dead, one militant was seriously wounded.