Sixteen suspected militants were killed by Egyptian security forces in North Sinai, said the Interior Ministry on Tuesday. The statement said they were plotting “terrorist attacks against important facilities and figures in different places in Arish”, which is the capital of governorate. The ministry said the suspects were killed in “armed confrontations”, but did not elaborate on their identity. No casualties were reported among the police. It did not say when the clashes happened. A stash of weapons and explosives was found in their hideouts, it added. Egypt has battled militants for years in the Sinai Peninsula in an insurgency that has occasionally spilled over to the mainland.