CAIRO, Feb 9 (Aswat Masriya) - Army forces killed three extremists supporting the terrorist Muslim Brotherhood on Sunday in a crackdown in North Sinai, an army spokesman said.

On Friday, 20 extremists were killed and 70 were injured in raids on the area, the spokesman added.

The army burnt down 25 huts that "radical elements were using as launch pads to implement their terrorist attacks against the army and the police", said spokesman Ahmed Mohamed Ali.

The Second Field Army forces also successfully defused a bomb planted on the side of the Rafah-Sheikh Zoueid Road, Ali stated.

The bomb targeted army forces on their way back from raids on extremists, but army elements were able to detect it and defuse it.

An extremist was killed and 12 others were arrested earlier on Sunday in Nagaa Shabana area South of Rafah, security sources told Aswat Masriya.

In cooperation with the police, army forces have launched a series of security crackdowns on militant radicals in Sinai after the latter had intensified their attacks against security forces since the deposition of former President Mohamed Mursi last July.