The Egyptian air force has destroyed a group of vehicles attempting to infiltrate Egypt from Libya that were loaded with weapons, the military said on Thursday.

The raid by air force units was part of the military's major anti-terrorism operation, Operation Sinai 2018, and followed intelligence suggesting that a group of "criminals" was planning to infiltrate Egypt via the country's western border, the military said in a statement on its official Facebook page.

The forces "destroyed ten 4x4 vehicles loaded with weapons and ammunition," the statement said.

Egypt last week launched a major operation, dubbed Sinai Operation 2018, involving land, naval and air forces, as well as the police and border guards, targeting "terrorist and criminal elements and organisations" in northern and central Sinai, as well as parts of the Nile Delta and the Western Desert.