{{Egypt’s military says it is continuing an operation against armed groups in the Sinai believed to have been plotting attacks on security forces and other targets.}}
Security sources told media on Sunday that at least seven people were killed overnight, and six arrested in a raid.
The raid follows an airstrike by the Egyptian military on Friday, which saw at least four people killed.
The assault on Saturday happened when Apache helicopters hit areas south of Sheikh Zuwaid in north Sinai, according to Egyptian state media.
A witness told local media that armed fighters responded by firing towards the helicopters.
The armed group, Ansar Beit al-Maqdis, had earlier said Israeli drones were behind the attack a day earlier that killed four of their fighters. It accused the Egyptian army of co-ordinating the attack with the Israelis.
Israel’s defense minister, Moshe Yaalon, says that his country will not let ‘rumors and speculation’ harm the Israeli-Egyptian peace treaty.
A funeral was held for the fighters on Saturday, with the bodies of the four driven through several border towns in Sinai.
Dozens of men on pick-up trucks flying their black flag paraded through the towns, in an act of defiance to the army, witnesses said.
“Our heroes became martyrs during their jihadi duties against the Jews in a rocket attack on occupied lands,” Ansar Bayt al-Maqdis said on its website.
Aljazeera
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