Egypt’s Ministry of Interior said in statement on Sunday that police killed 15 terrorists during a shootout in El-Arish, the capital city of North Sinai.

The statement said that a raid was carried out to arrest the terrorists based on intelligence revealing that a terrorist group was located at a farm in El-Arish’s Obour region planned to carry out attacks.

“The group has been involved in a number of hostile attacks against the army and police forces,” the statement said.

"Upon the approach of police forces, the terrorist group opened fire, prompting police to fire back and kill 15 terrorists,” it said.

No casualties were reported among the police.

"Police forces seized nine automatic rifles, three bird-eye rifles, two explosive charges and an explosive belt in possession of the terrorist group."

The statement did not say when the raid took place, yet the announcement came three days after an Islamic State attack on a checkpoint in the town of Bir El-Abd, which killed eight troops and one civilian.