CAIRO, Nov 16 (Aswat Masriya) – Egypt's armed forces killed three "terrorists" during security raids conducted in cooperation with the ministry of interior in North Sinai on Saturday, its spokesman said on Sunday.

Armed Forces Spokesman Mohamed Samir added in a statement that security forces also arrested 23 "terrorists" and "criminals" in the governorates of North Sinai, Ismailia, Port Said and Daqahliyah.

Militants have stepped up attacks targeting security forces in Egypt, particularly in the Sinai Peninsula, since the army's ouster of Islamist President Mohamed Mursi in July 2013, which followed mass protests against his rule.

At least 30 military personnel were killed in a suicide blast which targeted a security checkpoint in Sinai's Sheikh Zuweid on October 24, in the worst militant attack since Mursi's ouster. 

Egypt's most dangerous militant group, the Sinai-based Ansar Bayt al-Maqdis, claimed responsibility for the attack in a video released on Friday. 

Ansar Bayt Al-Maqdis previously claimed responsibility for several attacks against Egypt's security forces after Mursi's ouster in July 2013, including an attempt in September, 2013 to assassinate the interior minister as well as several attacks targeting security headquarters and convoys.

The militant group pledged allegiance to the leader of the Islamic State fighters in Iraq and Syria last Monday. 

Islamic State fighters have controlled large areas of Iraq and Syria recently. They have carried out a number of mass executions and recently beheaded two American journalists and an aid worker and two British nationals.