Mourners in Cairo pray during a funeral Saturday for a police captain killed in the desert shootout.

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Police trying to raid "terrorist elements' hideout" in Western Desert, ministry says

At least 16 police officers were killed and 13 injured, it says

CNN  — 

Several Egyptian police officers were killed in a shootout with “militants” Friday in Egypt’s western desert, according to state-run media outlet Ahram Online, which cited Egypt’s interior ministry.

The firefight occurred as police were attempting to raid “a terrorist elements’ hideout” in the Bahariya Oasis, located in the desert approximately 370 kilometers (more than 220 miles) southwest of Cairo.

The statement said national security forces had received information that “terrorists” were in the desert to “hide, train, equip, and carry out terrorist operations, taking advantage of the rugged desert and ease of movement.”

Police said “a number of militants” were killed, but an exact figure wasn’t released, Ahram Online reported.

CNN’s Sarah Faidell, Dakin Andone, Natalie Gallon and Ammar Albadran contributed to this report.