Two armed militants were killed and nine others arrested by Egyptian security forces in Sinai on Thursday, Aswat Masriya reported. 

The incident took place close to the Sinai Peninsula’s Al-Arish city, where violent attacks on security checkpoints and facilities have become frequent since the ouster of Islamist president Mohamed Morsi.

Military sources told Aswat Masriya website that security forces carried out an extensive operation south of Al-Arish and were able to pinpoint the movements of the militants and ambush them.

All of the militants were Egyptians, the source said, and a large amount of automatic weapons were seized at the scene of the arrest.

Since Morsi’s ouster by the army in July after mass protests against him, daily attacks in north Sinai have killed dozens of army and police officers and conscripts.

Sinai has been suffering from a security vacuum since the ouster of former president Hosni Mubarak over two years ago, although militant attacks have grown much more frequent since July.

The Muslim Brotherhood, the group Morsi hails from and whose leaders are being arrested in a recent crackdown, have been accused by their opponents of giving a free reign to “terrorist” groups in Sinai.

Brotherhood leader Mohamed El-Beltagy – arrested on Thursday – was recorded on video as saying that attacks in Sinai will be halted once Morsi is reinstated as president, which led the security forces and interim government to accuse the group of complicity in the Sinai attacks.