Egyptian security forces have killed seven alleged jihadists in North Sinai, state news agency MENA reported late Tuesday.

Security sources told the agency that forces destroyed “68 terrorist hotbeds, including 22 houses and 46 huts used by jihadists to carry out terror attacks against police and army.”

MENA also said that forces destroyed ten cars and 20 motorcycles that “belong to jihadist elements,” in addition to two farms.

The source did not specify the time frame in which security forces carried out these raids.

There has been a media blackout in Sinai since the army began its operations over a year ago, with official news coming mainly from the military spokesperson and the official news agency.

The Egyptian army has been battling a jihadist insurgency for almost a decade in the restive Sinai Peninsula. However, it says it has upped its efforts over the last year as attacks by militants have intensified on police and army sites.

On Tuesday, the army announced that a kidnapped police captain had been found dead.

Groups such as Ansar Beit Al-Maqdis – that swore allegiance to the Islamic State (IS) last November – and Ajnad Misr have claimed responsibility for several attacks against the army in Sinai and other Egyptian governorates including Cairo.

The army is currently creating a one kilometre and a half buffer zone on the Rafah-Gaza border, evicting hundreds of families. The government has promised them compensation.