At least 10 persons, including seven members of a family, were killed during an army raid in the restive North Sinai governorate of eastern Egypt.
"Seven civilians were killed by mistake during an army raid in Shabana village in Rafah, North Sinai," security sources said early today.
Three militants were also killed during fire exchange.
According to the security sources, seven civilians, who were members from the same family, were killed after a mortar shell fell on their house. The shell was targeting a security checkpoint but missed it's target.
A woman also was injured and was transferred to Rafah General Hospital.
Shabana village became like a battlefield as the army used two Apache helicopters and two tanks to attack militants who used rocket-propelled grenades and mortars during the clashes, the sources said.
North Sinai has witnessed many violent attacks by militants since the January 2011 revolution that toppled the ex-president Hosni Mubarak.
The militant attacks targeting police and military increased after the ouster of Islamist ex-president Mohamed Morsi last year. Over 500 security personnel have been reported killed since then.
Egypt has declared a three-month state of emergency and a curfew in different parts of Sinai following two terror attacks that left at least 31 Egyptian soldiers killed last month.
The military has launched security campaigns in the area, arrested suspects and demolished houses that belong to terrorists, including those facilitating tunnels leading to the Gaza Strip.
