CAIRO, Mar 19 (Aswat Masriya) - A security campaign targeting "extremists" and "terrorist hotbeds" in North Sinai on Thursday left 28 suspected militants killed, the state agency MENA reported.

Security forces also arrested six suspects in their campaign in the cities of al-Arish, Sheikh Zuweid and Rafah, MENA reported.

Militancy inside Egypt has seen a significant rise since July 2013, with most attacks targeting security forces in North Sinai. 

The Sinai-based militant group Ansar Bayt al-Maqdis has claimed responsibility for most militant attacks carried out in the governorate. The group pledged allegiance to Islamic State fighters in Iraq and Syria last November, renaming itself as the "Sinai Province". 

Amid intensified campaigns to fight insurgency, especially in North Sinai, the armed forces spokesman said on March 1 that the military had killed 173 people, whom it described as "terrorists" in February.

One-hundred and fifteen more "terrorists" were killed during the first two weeks of March, the spokesman said.