Egyptian police kill 7 suspected Islamic State militants in shootout

Egyptians carry the coffin of policewoman Brigadier Nagwa el-Haggar during her funeral on April 10, 2017, after she died during a blast that struck outside the Coptic Orthodox Patriarchate headquarters in the Mediterranean city of Alexandria on Palm Sunday the day before. (Photo: AFP)

Egyptian security forces killed seven suspected Islamic State militants in a shootout on Monday as they were meeting to plan attacks on minority Christians, the Interior Ministry said.

The incident in the southern city of Assiut occurred a day after Egypt's cabinet approved a three-month state of emergency in the wake of Islamic State attacks on two Christian Coptic churches that killed at least 44 people.