The interior ministry announced on Sunday that it had killed the members of a "terrorist cell" belonging to Ansar Beit Al-Maqdis, a militant group which has carried out the most deadly attacks against Egyptian security forces since militancy spiked in the country in 2013.

Police spokesman Hany Abdel-Latif said that security forces discovered an explosive-manufacturing cell in the Nile Delta's Sharqiya governorate and raided the location. The cell members exchanged fire with police forces and were killed, Abdel-Latif said.

Abdel-Latif described the cell as including some of the "most dangerous terrorist elements in the country," and said two of them were involved in previous attacks.

Egypt’s security forces have been facing a decade-long jihadist militant insurgency in the Sinai Peninsula, with attacks increasing dramatically since the ouster of president Mohamed Morsi in 2013. Some attacks have also been launched in mainland Egypt, including in Cairo and in the Nile Delta.

Militant attacks have killed hundreds of military and police personnel since Morsi's ouster. The military has reportedly arrested and killed hundreds of militants in response.

Civilians have also been caught up in the violence.