CAIRO, Jan 30 (Aswat Masriya) - Egypt's Supreme Council of Armed Forces (SCAF) emphasised on Friday intensifying operations against all "terrorist" elements nationwide in cooperation with police forces, in a statement.

SCAF convened today following the deadly militant attacks on security installations in North Sinai late Thursday, which left at least 30 dead and 50 injured.

SCAF announced their decision to continue securing the state's efforts to advance towards achieving security and stability, in the statement published on the army spokesman's Facebook page after the meeting. 

The Council paid tribute to the "heroic acts" of armed forces and police personnel in confronting "criminal acts" aimed at undermining the stability of the country. It also mourned the victims of the attacks.

The army spokesman said that "terrorist" elements were behind the attacks as a result of the armed forces' recent "successful blows" against them, in a statement released late Thursday.

Egypt's most active militant group Ansar Bayt al-Maqdis, which changed its name to Sinai Province since pledging allegiance to the leader of the Islamic State fighters in Iraq and Syria, claimed responsibility of the attacks on its Twitter account hours after they were launched.

Egypt's President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi cut short his visit to Ethiopia on Friday to attend the African Union summit following the attacks, the Egyptian presidency said in a statement.

Sisi declared a state of emergency and a curfew in the border governorate last October, in reaction to a militant attack which left over 30 security personnel killed.

It was extended until April 25, the cabinet said in a statement earlier this week.

Militants have stepped up attacks targeting security forces in Egypt, particularly in the Sinai peninsula, since the ouster of Islamist President Mohamed Mursi in July 2013.