Two army officers and two soldiers were killed by a roadside bomb during a security operation in northern and central Sinai that killed 20 militants, Egypt’s army spokesman said Saturday on his Facebook's official page.

Twenty-four militants were arrested and 28 militant hideouts and 11 vehicles were destroyed in North Sinai during the five-day military operation, meanwhile, in central Sinai, 12 militants were arrested.

The army also destroyed two explosives caches and two workshops for manufacturing explosive devices.

Five explosive devices were defused in central Sinai.

Egypt’s army and police forces have been waging a war over the past three years against an Islamist militant insurgency in North Sinai. Hundreds of security personnel and militants have been killed in the violence.