Two militants were killed in a shootout with security forces at a farm in the Nile Delta's Beheira governorate, following a tip-off to police that the premises were being used to manufacture explosives, state news agency MENA reported on Saturday.

After they received the tip, National Security in Beheira verified the information and received clearance to raid the farm.

The militants, according to MENA, fired at security forces when they detected them on the property, prompting the forces to fire back.

Security forces found three automatic rifles at the farm as well as a number of explosives and ammunitions.

In August 2015, three police personnel were killed and 27 others injured in a bombing that targeted their bus in Beheira. Five individuals were arrested and tried for the attack.

Egypt has been battling a growing Islamist insurgency for almost four years. The attacks are concentrated in the northern Sinai Peninsula but have also extended to the mainland.

Hundreds of security personnel as well as terrorists have been killed in what has been dubbed Egypt’s war against terrorism.