NORTH SINAI, Aug 8 (Aswat Masriya) - Security forces killed 18 suspected militants in Apache shelling of areas of North Sinai's Sheikh Zuweid and Rafah towns throughout the past two days, military sources said on Saturday.

Security apparatuses received information that "cells" belonging to the Ansar Bayt al-Maqdis militant group were planning attacks on security bases, sources told Aswat Masriya. The "cells" were targeted in the shelling.

As Egypt faces an ongoing insurgency, especially in North Sinai, Ansar is coming out as one of the most active militant groups in the country.

The group, which changed its name to Sinai Province after pledging allegiance to Islamic State fighters, claimed responsibility for at least four attacks in July alone. 

A video released by the group's media office on Wednesday showed a Croatian citizen earlier kidnapped in Cairo saying that he will be killed in 48 hours if Muslim women "arrested in Egyptian prisons" are not released.

The ultimatum expired on Friday, yet the fate of the 30-year-old Croatian national Tomislav Salopek remains unknown.