Egypt's army announced on Sunday that more than 70 alleged jihadists have been killed in recent military operations in North Sinai, the location of an insurrection affiliated to the Islamic State group.
A statement by the Egyptian army quoted by AFP said that the operations had targeted "homes of terrorists" and "takfiri elements" leading to "the deaths of 73 takfiris in northern Sinai" between July 22 and August 30.
Four other "takfiris" were killed, the statement added, without elaborating. The term "takfiri" is used by Egyptian security officials to refer to jihadists.
During the clashes "three officers and four soldiers were killed or wounded," the statement said, without providing further details.
Egypt has been fighting an insurgency in the Sinai Peninsula for several years, which at times has spilled over into other parts of the country. Most of the attacks during this time period have been claimed by the Sinai Province, the ISIS affiliate in Egypt.
The country has been under a state of emergency since April of 2018, after two suicide bombings at churches claimed by ISIS killed at least 45 people in the cities of Tanta and Alexandria.
In February of 2018, Egypt launched operation “Sinai 2018” in an effort to rid the Sinai Peninsula of Islamic terrorists.
More than 930 suspected jihadists have been killed in the region along with dozens of security personnel, according to official figures.