CAIRO, Oct 22 (Aswat Masriya) -  Egypt's President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi called for maximum vigilance and securing vital institutions as attacks on security personnel mount.

In a statement by the presidency on Saturday, Sisi met with a number of officials including the Minister of Defense and the Minister of Interior to discuss a range of topics including the security conditions in Egypt.

The meeting comes on the same day Brigadier General Adel Rajaaie, who served in North Sinai as a commander of an armoured division, was killed outside his home in Obour City on the outskirts of Cairo.

An unknown group calling itself Lewaa al-Thawra claimed responsibility for Rajaaie's death  in a statement on its Twitter account, that was suspended later.

Aswat Masriya couldn't independently verify the authenticity of the statement.

Last Saturday, the armed forces launched a military campaign in North Sinai killing a number of militants after the death of 12 security personnel in an attack on a checkpoint about 40Km away from the town of Bir al-Abd.

Militancy inside Egypt has seen a significant rise since the military ouster of former president Mohamed Mursi in July 2013, following mass protests against his rule. North Sinai has been at the epicenter of this insurgency.

According to separate statements by the armed forces over the past year alone, hundreds of suspected militants have been killed and hundreds more arrested in multiple security campaigns launched by the army