Egypt police say 15 suspected militants arrested, large stash of explosives found

CAIRO – Egypt's Interior Ministry says it has detained 15 militants suspected of planning operations to destabilize the country in a series of raids.

A ministry statement said most had large amounts of explosives.

The statement Wednesday said the raids took place in different areas of Egypt over recent weeks. A Tunisian was among those arrested in a raid last week.

He was detained with two Egyptians on the same day authorities killed a Libyan militant suspected of involvement in the attack on the U.S. consulate in Benghazi last month. The authorities didn't say whether the two raids were linked.

The statement said another suspected militant was arrested with his brother while trying to flee to Libya. All those arrested were in possession of explosives, it said.