Egypt urges unity against Islamic State 'barbarism'

Egypt's foreign minister on Tuesday called for a "collective and international approach" against the "barbarism" of militant groups in Syria and Iraq.

In an interview with AFP, Sameh Shoukri said: "What we need is a collective and international approach that takes into account all the different elements required to fight this phenomenon: political, military and social."

"It's only with an international commitment that we can get rid of this barbarism," added Shoukri, speaking to AFP on a visit to Paris.

Asked whether Egypt could envisage a possible military intervention against the militants, the minister said Cairo was "ready to support the international community in terms of what might be decided on this subject" after a United Nations Security Council resolution.

"Each country will have a role to play but it's still too early to know what," he said.

US Secretary of State John Kerry had called for a global coalition to combat the Islamic State (IS) group and their "genocidal agenda".

On Tuesday, 11 Egyptian policemen were killed when a roadside bomb blast struck their armoured vehicle in the restive Sinai Peninsula, security officials said.

Militants have claimed responsibility for a string of attacks that have killed scores of policemen and soldiers, mostly in north Sinai, since the army overthrew democratically president Mohamed Morsi in a coup July last year.

The Egyptian army has launched a huge operation in the peninsula over the past 12 months, claiming to have killed scores of militants, although locals have accused soldiers of targeting civilians and damaging property including mosques.

The main militant group, Ansar Beit al-Maqdis, has acknowledged the loss of some of its leaders, but has continued to attack both the security forces and Bedouin suspected of collaborating with them.

Ansar Beit al-Maqdis, which has also fired rockets at neighbouring Israel, released a video last month claiming responsibility for beheading men it accused of working with the Israelis.

In another video, a militant thought to be the group's spiritual leader, Abu Osama al-Masri, supplicated God for victory for what he called his "brothers" in IS.

The Egyptian authorities have been accused of using the pretext of combating 'terror' to crack down on dissent, both of secular activists and of the Muslim Brotherhood, which won every free election the group was allowed to participate in.

Over 1,400 people have died in a state crackdown following the overthrow of Morsi, who hails from the Brotherhood, including about 700 of his supporters who killed in a single day on 14 August 2013.