Sixteen Egyptian policemen were killed in a shootout with militants on the road between Cairo and the Bahariya oasis in the country's Western Desert, according to an official toll released Saturday.

The figure from the interior ministry was lower than a toll given earlier by security and medical sources of at least 35 Egyptian police officers killed in the clashes which began on Friday night.

The ministry said that 15 militants were killed as security forces chased them into the desert after the clashes.

Source: AFP