The body of a police captain was found in Egypt’s Sinai Peninsula Tuesday, two days after he was abducted by suspected militants, the military said.
The discovery comes after the bodies of nine civilians were found in the area on Saturday and Monday. They are thought to have been executed by the Ansar Beit al-Maqdis jihadist group for collaborating with security forces.
Armed forces spokesman General Mohammed Samir said troops came across Captain Ayman al-Desouki’s body during operations against militants near the town of Rafah, on the border with the Palestinian Gaza Strip.
Ten militants were killed in the operations and 15 of their vehicles destroyed, Samir said in a statement published on his official Facebook page.
Militants thought to be from Ansar Beit al-Maqdis, which has pledged allegiance to the Islamic State group, stopped the bus al-Desouki was travelling on at an impromptu checkpoint on Sunday and took him away after checking his identity card.
Two policemen were killed in similar circumstances in November. Local residents say the militants frequently set up checkpoints in areas around Rafah.
Egyptian security forces have engaged in a series of campaigns since August 2011 to suppress jihadist groups operating in the remote desert peninsula bordering Israel and Gaza.
In recent months, residents have been evacuated to create a kilometre-deep buffer zone along the Gaza border.
Security forces have claimed numerous successes and the deaths of many militants. Activists say that civilians have also suffered severe losses to property and occasional fatalities in the campaign.
Due to restrictions on journalists operating in the area, which has been declared a military zone, such information cannot usually be confirmed.
