Egypt said on Monday three of its soldiers had been killed in the Sinai Peninsula during a wide-ranging operation against the local branch of the Islamic State group.
Four “extremists” were also killed, the military said in a statement.
It was the first military death toll announced since the army started its campaign on February 9.
It says it has killed about 60 jihadists and arrested hundreds of suspects since the operation began.
It launched the offensive after Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi gave his army commander a three month deadline in November to quash a jihadist insurgency which has killed hundreds of soldiers and policemen.
The ultimatum came after suspected ISIS gunmen massacred more than 300 worshippers at a mosque in northern Sinai the same month.
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