CAIRO, Sept 20 (Aswat Masriya) –  A high-ranking police officer was shot dead in the North Sinai town of Arish Sunday, according to an Interior Ministry post on its official Facebook page.

Brigadier General Ahmed Mohamed Abdel Sattar Askar, was killed when unidentified gunmen opened fire in the vicinity of Arish police station Saturday evening.

The Interior Ministry has not identified the group responsible for the attack.

North Sinai security forces are conducting a large scale operation in the towns of Arish, Rafah and Sheikh Zuweid known as “martyr’s right”.

A military statement released yesterday said that 74 "terrorists" were killed and 52 arrested on the thirteenth day of the operation.

This brings the toll to a total of 521 militants killed since the operation launched on Sept. 7.