Egyptian security forces are fighting gunbattles in a town near Cairo after launching an operation targeting "criminal and terrorist hotbeds".

At least 28 suspected militants have been held
in Kerdasa, state TV says.
But several hours after the operation started,
security forces were having to take cover from
gunfire.
Eleven police officers were killed at a police
station in Kerdasa last month, weeks after the
overthrow of Islamist President Mohamed Morsi
in July.
Soldiers went into Kerdasa at about 05:30
local time (03:30 GMT), backed by helicopters.
State media said a senior policeman had died
in clashes with militants.
Reporting from the centre of the town the
BBC's Quentin Sommerville said security forces
were exchanging fire with unidentified gunmen
who appear to have taken up positions in a
number of buildings in the town.
Security forces were having to take cover
behind buildings, our correspondent adds.
Earlier residents had told the BBC that
security forces were searching homes in
Kerdasa for members of Mr Morsi's Muslim
Brotherhood movement.
'Down with Sisi'
In the hours before police and soldiers moved
in, the mood in the town was defiant, our
correspondent says.
Thousands of people attended a pro-Morsi rally
on Wednesday night amid shouts of "Down with
Sisi", referring to the head of the army.
The authorities had promised to respond to the
deadly attack on the police station in August.
Eleven police officers died when this
police station was set on fire last
month
According to state media, Assistant Interior
Minister for Central Security Maj Gen Ashraf
Abdullah met troops shortly before the mission
began.
After performing dawn prayers, the troops
began taking their positions in armoured
vehicles ready for the start of the operation,
Mena reported.
State-run Nile News TV later showed live
pictures of army vehicles positioned in
Kerdasa and other armoured vehicles moving in
the area.
Military roadblocks outside
Kerdasa prevented people
from entering the area, our
correspondent says. "I
can't be responsible if you
get shot," an officer was
heard telling a local man.
An Egyptian interior ministry spokesman told
Nile News: "There are still some armed
elements on rooftops in Kerdasa and we are
currently dealing with them."
In a separate incident on Thursday, several
metro lines in the capital were disrupted
after two suspected bombs were found on the
tracks near Hilmiyat al-Zaytun station in the
south of Cairo.
Security officials said bomb experts were
dispatched to the scene and services are now
running again.
An interior ministry official later told AFP
the devices were "fake".
'Outsiders'
At least 1,000 people - including about 100
police officers - have died in unrest
following President Morsi's removal from
power.
The deadliest incidents took place when
security forces moved in to disperse two pro-
Morsi sit-ins in Cairo last month.
Kerdasa has been identified as a
'hotbed' of support for the Muslim
Brotherhood
Kerdasa, known for producing and selling
textiles, is 14km (8.7 miles) from Cairo.
Residents were quoted on Wednesday saying they
did not trust police: "We know they will come
to arrest people we know and respect, whom
they blame for the violence that we know was
done by outsiders, not by our respectable
sheikhs," Ahmed Aly told Reuters news agency.
Egyptian forces arrested dozens of residents
during a raid on Monday on pro-Morsi
supporters in the town of Delga, Minya
province, about 300km south of Cairo.

Source-bbcnews

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