CAIRO, Sept. 10 (Xinhua) -- At least nine terrorists were killed and five policemen were wounded on Sunday during a security raid in Giza province near the capital Cairo, official MENA news agency reported.
The terrorists have been hiding in two apartments at the same street in Giza's Agouza district in preparation for carrying out a number of terror operations, MENA quoted a senior security source as saying.
According to the source, the militants started gunfire upon the forces' approach, and during fire exchange at one of the apartments, a terrorist from the other blew off an explosive device.
"The confrontation wounded five policemen and killed nine of the terrorist elements," he added, noting that weapons, ammunition, explosives and terror-related papers were also seized during the raid.
Since March, similar security campaigns killed about 50 militants in the provinces of Cairo, Giza, Alexandria, Beheira, Fayoum, Qalioubiya, Minufiya, Ismailia and others.
Egypt has been fighting against a wave of terror activities that killed hundreds of policemen and soldiers since the military toppled former Islamist president Mohamed Morsi in July 2013 in response to mass protests against his one-year rule and his currently outlawed Muslim Brotherhood group.
Terror attacks in Egypt used to focus on police and military men in North Sinai before spreading nationwide and targeting the Coptic minority as well, with most of them claimed by a Sinai-based group loyal to the regional Islamic State (IS) militant group.
Another militant group referring to itself as Hasm, which appeared late last year and is regarded by the police as an affiliate with the Brotherhood, claimed responsibility for a number of terrorist attacks that killed several policemen in the country.
Meanwhile, the Egyptian military and police have killed hundreds of militants and arrested a similar number of suspects as part of the country's anti-terror war declared by President Abdel-Fattah al-Sisi, the army chief then, following Morsi's removal.
