The suspected militants also likely suffered casualties during the raid. Police launched a raid Friday on a militant hideout in the desert El-Wahat area. The source said they had been met with heavy fire from portable anti-tank rocket launchers.
The target of the operation was a residence where it was believed eight members of the Hasm Movement were located. Hasm has taken credit for the murders of judges and police officers in the country over the last year, Al Arabiya reports. Cairo alleges that Hasm is a violent branch of the Muslim Brotherhood, but the brotherhood has denied being linked to Hasm.
Earlier reports put the number of police casualties at 30, including 20 special operation personnel.
The operation has been completed, according to the source. Police forces are now combing an area within a 25-mile radius.
In June, six terrorists were arrested in Egypt for plotting attacks on Coptic Christians, the ministry said at the time.
In May, assailants killed 28 Coptic Christians on their way to the St. Samuel Confessor Monastery.
