CAIRO: Egypt police killed three suspected militants allegedly involved in the slaying of a Coptic Christian man kidnapped more than five months ago in a restive part of Sinai Peninsula, the Interior Ministry said on Monday.

Security forces exchanged fire with fighters of the militant Islamic State group while chasing them in the Abtal area of North Sinai province, the ministry said in a statement. Three of the militants were killed and police were chasing three others. The statement did not say when they fighting took place. The ministry, which oversees the police, said an explosives belt detonated during the shootout. It was unclear whether the bomber was one of the three militants the ministry said were killed. No casualties were reported among the security forces.

The details provided by the ministry could not be independently verified and media access to northern Sinai is heavily restricted. The ministry said the dead militants were involved in the killing of Nabil Habashi, a 62-year-old Coptic Christian from the town of Bir al-Abd. Habashi had built the sole church in the area.

Militants kidnapped Habashi, a jewelry dealer, in November from Bir al-Abd, and demanded a ransom of two million Egyptian pounds ($127,550 million), said a church official.

Published in Dawn, April 20th, 2021