CAIRO, Dec 25 (Aswat Masriya) The Egyptian army said on Wednesday that it thwarted an attempt by extremists to bomb a security checkpoint in Sinai and arrested four people.

Army forces launched a security operation in North Sinai early on Wednesday where they arrested a man who belongs to the Palestinian movement of Hamas.

The Hamas detainee said he had planned to bomb a truck belonging to Egyptian authorities, the army’s spokesman Ahmed Aly said.

The Egyptian army has enhanced its efforts in the Sinai Peninsula in recent months to control attacks by extremists on security personnel which have increased since the ouster of Islamist President Mohamed Mursi in July.