Three decapitated bodies were found on Wednesday among five civilian corpses in different parts of Egypt's restive North Sinai governorate, a security source told Al-Ahram's Arabic news website.

Egypt's most active militant group Ansar Beit Al-Maqdis, which swore allegiance to the Islamic State last November, had already claimed responsibility for killing at least 12 people by decapitation, accusing them of collaborating with the Egyptian army or Israeli intelligence.

Ansar Beit Al-Maqdis have also claimed responsibility for most of the attacks in Sinai since Morsi's ouster.

In December, the militant group released a video on social media showing the decapitation of two men for collaborating with the Egyptian army. In the video, the group promised that such murders "would be repeated.”

Egypt's security forces have been battling a decade-long Islamist militant insurgency in North Sinai that has spiked in the last year and a half.

The militant attacks have targeted police and army personnel and at times have expanded into Cairo and its surrounding governorates. Civilians have been affected too in the attacks.