Egyptian troops in Egypt's border Sinai Peninsula have killed eight Islamist militants and arrested more than two dozen others, state news agency MENA reported, as part of an ongoing campaign against Islamist insurgents in the region.

Raids on militant hideouts in the northern Sinai town of Sheikh Zuweid killed eight Islamist fighters in a shootout with security forces, MENA said early Sunday

Twenty six other suspects were arrested, security sources said.

Also, 21 shacks and buildings used as bases for terrorist attacks were destroyed in the offensive, security sources said.

Since the ouster of Islamist president Mohamed Morsi last summer and an ensuing crackdown on his supporters, violence has spiralled in the underdeveloped peninsula bordering Israel.

Government figures place the number of police and troops killed in militant attacks since July 2013 at approximately 500.

Egypt's military launched large-scale operations in the Sinai region to quell the burgeoning insurgency, killing dozens of militant fighters and arresting hundreds of suspects.

The country's most active militant group, Ansar Beit Al-Maqdis, has rebuffed authorities' reports of deaths and arrests, claiming last week that the army announces "fictitious victories."