CAIRO, Mar 21 (Aswat Masriya) - Security forces killed on Saturday 10 suspected militants in an aerial raid on a deserted house in North Sinai's Sheikh Zuweid region, security sources said.

Sources told Aswat Masriya the targeted house harboured "extremists ... planning attacks on security sources," citing intelligence received by security apparatuses.

Security forces also arrested five "extremely dangerous elements" in a separate raid in the region, the sources said.

Militancy inside Egypt has seen a significant rise since July 2013, with most attacks targeting security forces in North Sinai. 

The Sinai-based militant group Ansar Bayt al-Maqdis has claimed responsibility for most militant attacks carried out in the governorate. The group pledged allegiance to Islamic State fighters in Iraq and Syria last November, renaming itself as the "Sinai Province". 

Amid intensified campaigns to fight insurgency, especially in North Sinai, the armed forces spokesman said on March 1 that the military had killed 173 people, whom it described as "terrorists" in February.

One-hundred and fifteen more "terrorists" were killed during the first two weeks of March, the spokesman said.