Egyptian police and gunmen traded fire in the Sinai town of al-Arish on Thursday as security forces pressed an unprecedented campaign to quell Islamist militants, state television reported.
“Clashes resumed between armed men and police forces in front of police station number two in al-Arish,” Nile News television reported, citing its correspondent there.
Egypt’s President Mohammed Mursi sacked his spy chief and two generals on Wednesday after a deadly ambush on soldiers prompted the military to launch unprecedented air strikes on militants in the Sinai.
Security officials say it is the first time that the army has fired missiles in Sinai since Egypt’s 1973 war with Israel, which was an attempt to recapture the Sinai Peninsula.
The government appeared set on regaining control of Sinai, where 16 soldiers were killed in a militant ambush on the weekend which exposed Egypt’s weak grip on the lawless peninsula despite a bolstered military presence since last year.
The changes in the military and intelligence ranks came as the army declared tentative victory against the Islamist militants on Wednesday, hours after state television reported 20 militants killed in air strikes.