Egyptian Police Kill Six Muslim Militants in Raid
Egyptian security forces hunting gunmen who ambushed a police vehicle in southern Egypt shot dead six Muslim militants in a dawn raid Monday, security sources said.
They said a policeman was also killed in the raid, taking the death toll in violence between militants and security forces since Sunday to 14--the bloodiest 24 hours this year.
Witnesses said the bodies of the militants were riddled with five or six bullets each. Security sources said they were members of the Muslim militant Gamaa al Islamiya, which is fighting to overthrow President Hosni Mubarak.
They said the militants opened fire from a cemetery near the town of Abu Tig, 215 miles south of Cairo, after police moved into a nearby village and arrested six people.
Hundreds of police had swept the area after gunmen ambushed a police vehicle on Sunday in Sidfa, a few miles away, killing five policemen and injuring six people.
The ministry said the militants who died Monday--three of whom were teen-agers--were responsible for the shooting of two policemen and an attack on a train last month in which two Egyptians and two foreigners were hurt.
About 350 people have been killed in political violence in Egypt in the last two years, most of them policemen or Muslim militants.
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