Three army officers and a soldier were killed in an explosion in Egypt’s Western Desert on Wednesday after a clash with militants.

:: Three army officers and a soldier were killed in an explosion in Egypt’s Western Desert on Wednesday after a clash with militants, the military said.

The incident comes days after ISIS militants gunned down 29 Christians in an attack southwest of the capital.

The army said air strikes hit “terrorists” who had been detected in the Western Desert, destroying two of their vehicles.

When land forces combed the area, an explosives vest went off as the officers “dealt” with items left behind by the militants, killing the three officers and the conscript.

The incident took place near the town of El-Bawiti, east of the site of Friday’s attack on the Christians who had been on their way to a monastery.

That attack prompted Egypt to launch air strikes on what it called militant “camps” in neighboring Libya.