At least 10 people, including civilians, were killed in an exchange of fire between security forces and militants at a village in Rafah city in Egypt's restive North Sinai province, a security source told Xinhua on condition of anonymity.
"During the confrontations, a mortar shell hit the house of a Bedouin and killed some of his family members, while three extremists are believed to have been killed as well," the source said about the incident Tuesday evening, noting that a 65-year-old woman was injured and was taken to Rafah hospital.
On the other hand, medical sources in Rafah said that the hospital received the bodies of 10 people, including four men, three women and three children.
The chaotic clashes came a few days after the Sinai-based Al Qaeda inspired Ansar Bayt al-Maqdis (ABM) group claimed responsibility for late October's attack that killed over 30 Egyptian soldiers in North Sinai.
The ABM, which is blacklisted by Egypt and the US as a terrorist group, has recently sworn allegiance to the Islamic State (IS) Sunni radical group in Iraq and Syria and changed its name to "Sinai State" as one of the states under IS chief Abu Bakr al- Baghdadi.
Egypt has been facing a rising wave of terrorism since the ouster of former Islamist president Mohamed Morsi by the military in July 2013 following mass protests against his one-year rule.
The crackdown that followed on Morsi's supporters has left about 1,000 dead while thousands were arrested. Anti-government attacks have since extended from the Sinai peninsula to Cairo and other provinces across the country, most of which are claimed by the so-called "Sinai State".
