Abducted Seven Egyptian security forces released

Seven Egyptian security officers who had been abducted by suspected militants in Sinai have been released, the country’s army says.

The security forces who were on their way to the Egyptian capital, Cairo, were abducted on May 16, near el-Arish, the capital of the North Sinai Governorate.

Officials said that four of those kidnapped worked at the Rafah crossing.

“The seven security personnel have been released by their kidnappers in Sinai,” Egyptian military spokesman Ahmed Ali said in a statement on Wednesday.

Following the abduction, Egyptian police closed the main crossing to the besieged Gaza Strip.

According to the country’s Interior Minister Mohamed Ibrahim, the officers were kidnapped by men armed with machineguns and anti-aircraft missiles, who were demanding the release of imprisoned militants.

Ibrahim added that no talks were held with the gunmen.

In August 2012, 15 Egyptian policemen were killed in an attack against a police station at the border between Egypt and Israel. It was the deadliest incident in Egypt’s Sinai in decades.

In response, Cairo launched an offensive against terrorists in Sinai, sending thousands of troops backed by tanks and heavy equipment into the region.