CAIRO, Nov. 1 (Xinhua) -- An Egyptian military raid killed the the rest of terrorists involved in the recent deadly anti-police attack at a mountainous area western Fayoum province south of the capital Cairo, the Egyptian military spokesman said in a statement on Wednesday.
"The accurate air raid killed all the terrorist elements present at the area, while combating security groups supported by an air cover are currently combing the surrounding desert paths," said military spokesman Tamer al-Refaay in the statement.
The raid comes after a similar military operation on Tuesday killed "a large number of terrorists" in the same area near Al-Wahat highway on the outskirts of Giza, south of Cairo.
The area witnessed two-day deadly confrontations between security forces and terrorists that started on October 20 and left 16 policemen dead, 13 wounded and one kidnapped. The clashes also left 15 militants either dead or injured.
The forces freed the kidnapped policeman, Mohamed al-Hayes, on Tuesday and President Abdel-Fattah al-Sisi visited him on Wednesday morning at a military hospital in Cairo where he is receiving treatment.
Last week, the security forces also announced the killing of 12 "very dangerous terrorist elements" in the western desert region of Al-Wahat where the 16 policemen were killed.
Egypt has been hit by a bloody insurgency 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 now-outlawed Muslim Brotherhood group.
Terror attacks have been centered in North Sinai before spreading nationwide and targeting the Coptic minority as well, with most of them claimed by a Sinai-based group affiliated with the regional Islamic State (IS) militant group.
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 Sisi, the army chief then, following Morsi's removal.
