Egypt's army says it killed seven militants and arrested 15 in North Sinai, as part of a campaign to purge the border area of an Islamic militant insurgency.

An army spokesman, Mohamed Samir, said the military conducted "a number of attacks" against "terrorist elements" in the last four days.

The 15 arrested had been involved in attacks on Egypt's police and army, the spokesman said.

The army operations also resulted in destroying two tunnels, 16 militant headquarters and 10 militants' vehicles, the army said.

A number of illegal migration and smuggling attempts were also aborted, through which the army seized 58 persons.

The army has stepped up its campaign on militants in North Sinai after an attack on a checkpoint in October left over 30 soldiers dead. A state of emergency was declared, and a one-kilometre buffer zone was established along the Gaza border, with locals evacuated and houses destroyed.

The Sinai-based militant group Ansar Beit Al-Maqdis, which has claimed several key terrorist attacks since the ouster of Islamist president Mohamed Morsi in July 2013, recently pledged allegiance to the Islamic State.


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