Egypt’s Interior Ministry has said that police killed 12 “terrorists” when security forces stormed three deserted buildings used as militant hideouts in the northern part of the Sinai Peninsula. A ministry statement on Thursday said the militants were the first to open fire on the policemen as they surrounded the buildings in the Mediterranean coastal city of el-Arish. The statement said there were no casualties among the police. Egypt has for years battled militants in Sinai. The insurgency intensified after 2013. However, a large military operation launched this year against the militants in northern Sinai has significantly reduced the number of attacks. Also Thursday, the state security prosecutor ordered Aisha al-Shaterm, the daughter of Muslim Brotherhood leader Khairat al-Shater, and five others to be held for 15 days pending an investigation on charges including membership in a terrorist organization.