Security forces in Egypt killed 12 suspected militants in raids near Cairo, announced the Interior Ministry on Monday.
The development took place a day after a bomb blast injured 17 people, including tourists, near the Giza pyramids.
The ministry said seven of the militants, who were affiliated with the banned Muslim Brotherhood, were killed in a firefight when police raided their hideout in the Sixth of October suburb.
In another such raid in Cairo's Al-Shorouk neighborhood against the Hasm group, an armed affiliate of the Brotherhood, the ministry said five suspected extremists were killed in an exchange of fire.
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Weapons and ammunition were seized in the two apartments, the ministry said.
"As part of the ministry's efforts to tackle the Muslim Brotherhood terrorist organization, information reached national security services" of attacks being prepared by Hasm, the ministry said.
The statement did not directly link the raids to Sunday's attack.
There was no claim of responsibility.
The Hasm group emerged in 2016 and has in the past claimed responsibility for several attacks.
This article has been adapted from its original source.
