CAIRO - Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi appointed a new armed forces chief of staff on Saturday, and the Interior Ministry dismissed several high-ranking officials in an apparent reorganization of the country's security command.

No reason was given for the reshuffle, but the Interior Ministry decision came a week after a deadly attack on a police operation in a western desert area of Giza province, in which the ministry said 16 police were killed after coming under heavy fire.

Egyptian forces have been fighting several armed Islamist groups, mostly in the northern part of the Sinai Peninsula, since Sisi came to power.