Egypt said on Wednesday its forces were redeploying in Sinai, adding that eleven militants were killed since operations were launched.

Egypt said on Wednesday its forces were redeploying in Sinai, adding that eleven militants were killed since operations were launched.

"The armed forces, in cooperation with the police, has arrested 23 people, killed 11 terrorists and wounded one since the start of Operation Eagle," the military said in statement.

Witnesses reported seeing at least four tanks headed west, away from the theater of operations, but troops and vehicles were fanning out near the borders with Gaza and the occupied territories to the east.

Confusion and inflated claims have shrouded the unprecedented campaign in the lawless peninsula that began after militants killed 16 soldiers in an August 5 attack on a border outpost.

"The armed forces will continue Operation Eagle to pursue the terrorists and will start on Wednesday morning to redeploy its forces to complete its pursuit of the fugitive terrorists and finish off all terrorist cells in the Sinai."

The statement contradicted earlier claims of having killed 20 militants in helicopter strikes following the August 5 attack.