Police kill two more militants involved in Sharm el-Sheik attacks

Police shot dead two militants who tried to run a checkpoint in their car in the Sinai mountains, according to the government statement. The gunmen were found to be principal suspects in the July terrorist attacks on Sharm el-Sheik.

A third suspect was captured after the shootout, which occured Wednesday in the Halal mountain range of northeastern Sinai.

The fatalities brought to three the number of suspected terrorists that the police killed in Sinai on Wednesday. Hours before the checkpoint battle, police killed Moussa Mohammed Salem Badran, an alleged leading player in the three bomb explosions in Sharm el-Sheik on July 23 that killed at least 64 people.

At the checkpoint, police shot dead Khaled Mesaed Salem and Telib Murdy Suleiman.

The Ministry of Interior confirmed the killings in a statement Thursday. It said Salem was the "principal planner" of the Sharm attacks and that Suleiman had played a "prominent role in providing the explosives and preparing the bombs."

The ministry said the three men in the car had come to the area to meet Badran, the AP reports.