Egyptian army kills 23 militants in North Sinai

At least 23 suspected Islamic State (IS) militants were killed on Thursday in Egyptian army airstrikes on North Sinai, security sources said.

The airstrikes were conducted in the early hours of Thursday, one day after clashes between the security forces and militants, the sources told Xinhua news agency on condition of anonymity.

According to the army, 17 soldiers and 100 militants were killed in fierce fighting following a wave of militant attacks on military checkpoints on Wednesday.

The sources said Apache helicopters on Thursday struck bases of militants suspected of taking part in Wednesday's brazen attacks on military checkpoints in southern Shiekh Zuweid city.

Sinai-based Ansar Bayet al-Maqdis, an IS affiliate in the peninsula, has claimed responsibility for the attacks.

The peninsula has been plagued by a growing militant insurgency following the ouster of Islamist leader Mohamed Morsi in 2013 by the army in response to mass protests against his rule.

According to an Efe news agency report earlier in the day, Egyptian armed forces on confirmed that the security situation in the area was calm and under control.

There has been no fighting recorded and the area's main streets and roads are empty, a security official told Efe.

The situation in Sinai is "100 percent under control", military spokesman Mohamed Samir said.

"The army will not, under any circumstances, allow any terrorist group to dominate even a millimeter of Sinai," the spokesman stressed.

Wednesday's series of attacks came two days after the assassination of Egyptian prosecutor general Hisham Barakat in Cairo, while other minor attacks were reported in the past 24 hours around the capital.