Egyptian military kills 47 militants in the Sinai

An Egyptian army soldier guards with an armoured personnel carrier (APC) near Tahrir Square in Cairo August 19, 2013. REUTERS/Mohamed Abd El Ghany

CAIRO (Reuters) - Egyptian security forces killed 47 Islamic militants in the country's Northern Sinai on Friday in one of the biggest operations in the region in months, security sources said.

Apache helicopters killed 27 militants from the Sinai Province group, which pledges allegiance to Islamic State, the ultra-hardline militants who have seized swathes of Iraq and Syria, the sources said.