Three military conscripts were killed and four others wounded, including police, when a police car flipped over while chasing 'outlaws' on the Sinai highway. The military personnel killed were Mohamed Farouq, Mahmoud Khalil and Mina Nozha.

On the same day, Sunday, masked gunmen attacked military checkpoints at Abu-Tawila in North Sinai, reported the Middle East News Agency (MENA).

According to Ahram Arabic news, eyewitness reports revealed one of the checkpoints located at the Arish-Oga road also came under attack by eight unknown gunmen.

No injuries or deaths have so far been reported following the checkpoint attacks.

Egypt security forces has been cracking down on suspected targets throughout the past week after 16 border guards were killed one week ago by as-yet unidentified assailants in Sinai.

 The Egyptian military has been bolstering its presence in Sinai with tanks and helicopters since the attack.

Egyptian officials declared 20 'terrorists' were killed during the subsequent security crackdown while six were arrested. 

The attackers, believed to have entered from Gaza, commandeered a military vehicle, which they hijacked from the slain Egyptian border guards, heading into Israel, but were killed in an Israeli helicopter strike.

According to AFP, Egyptian authorities received a list of nine suspects from Israel and asked the Palestinian Islamist movement Hamas, which offered its assitance, to provide information on three of the men.

They are believed to be affiliated with the Army of Islam, a small radical Islamist group that Egypt has blamed for several attacks in recent years.