CAIRO, Dec 13 (Aswat Masriya) – Ten “extremists” were killed in a security campaign in North Sinai targeting the southern al-Arish and Sheikh Zuweid regions, reported state-run news agency MENA.

Security sources told MENA that military helicopters raided "terrorist hotspots", killing at least 10 "extremists". A truck and two motorbikes used by the "extremists" were also destroyed during the 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 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 deadly attacks.