Egypt's army kill jihadist involved in attack on soldiers

Egypt's army shot dead a jihadist alleged of being involved in an attack that killed 16 soldiers in the border city of Rafah in northern Sinai last year, the army's spokesman said Tuesday.

Silmi Mohamed Masbah, a member of Ansar Beit al-Maqdis, an al- Qaida-inspired group based in Sinai, was killed by the troops of the second field army on Monday, said the spokesman, Ahmed Ali.

Another 27 hardliners were arrested during the operation, he said, adding that seven of them were involved in other attacks against police in Sinai and the rest are suspected of affiliating with takfiri (radical Sunni) movements.

The authorities received a tip-off that Masbah was planning to attack some military checkpoints, and acted to kill him before his motorcycle reached the targets, Ali said.

The security forces also seized some weapons and torched 13 bases used to launch attacks against the army and police, he added.

Security conditions deteriorated in Sinai after the ouster of Islamist president Mohamed Morsi by the army in July, as the hardline militants take the peninsula as a stronghold to attack army and the police premises.