NORTH SINAI, Nov 21 (Aswat Masriya) - Two "extremists" were killed in an explosion in Sinai's Sheikh Zuweid Friday night, while five others were killed during security raids south of al-Arish and Sheikh Zuweid, security sources said.

Police sources, who preferred to remain anonymous, told Aswat Masriya that two "extremists" were planting an explosive device on a road south of Sheikh Zuweid, where security forces were scheduled to pass, when the device exploded, killing them both.

Security forces also arrested 20 other "extremists" during the Arish security raid, and 11 during the Sheikh Zuweid raid, the sources added.

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. 

President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi declared a three-month state of emergency and a nighttime curfew in parts of the Sinai Peninsula in response to the attack.