The head of Egypt's Cairo University said on Wednesday the country's largest public university is exempting the children of both army and police martyrs from tuition fees.

During the Armed Forces fifth educational symposium at the university's campus, the CU President Mohamed Osman El-Khosht said the children of martyrs would also be exempted from accommodation fees at the university's dormitoriess.

He affirmed the university's support for comprehensive Operation Sinai 2018, launched by the Egyptian Armed Forces on 9 February, which targets "terrorist and criminal elements and organizations" in northern and central Sinai, as well as parts of the Nile Delta and the Western Desert.

The university, one of the biggest nationwide, includes 27 faculties and institutions, and is home to more than 250,000 students.

Last August, Egypt's Education Minister Tarek Shawki issued a decree exempting the sons and daughters of army, police, and judiciary's martyrs enrolled in public schools from school fees.

Hundreds and army officers and soldiers have been killed in battles against or attacks by terrorist groups in the last several years.