36 terrorists killed in army raids in Egypt

At least 36 terrorists were killed in army raids in Egypt's restive North and Central Sinai in the past five days, officials said today.

The raids are part of a major campaign which was launched earlier in February to eradicate terrorism in North and Central Sinai.

Around 345 suspected terrorists were arrested, including a number of wanted terrorists, the Egyptian Military Forces said in a statement.

An officer and three conscripts were killed while two officers, five conscripts and a non-commissioned officer were injured during the raids.

The Armed Forces also said it destroyed 386 trenches and hideouts used by terrorists to store weapons.

The statement also added that 17 vehicles and 67 unlicensed motorbikes were seized and destroyed.

North Sinai has witnessed many terrorists attacks since the January 2011 revolution.

The attacks, mainly targeting police and military, increased after the ouster of Islamist ex-president Mohamed Morsi in 2013 by military following massive protests against his rule.

Hundreds of police and army personnel were killed since then.

The military has launched security campaigns in the North Sinai area, in which some terrorists are based.

The security forces have arrested suspects and demolished houses that belong to terrorists, including those facilitating tunnels leading to the Gaza Strip.

In November, President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi ordered the military forces to restore security in Sinai within three months after militants killed more than 300 worshippers at a mosque.

In November last year, militants detonated a bomb inside a crowded mosque in the Sinai Peninsula and then sprayed gunfire on panicked worshippers as they fled, killing at least 305 people and wounding at least 128 others.

The attack was said to be the deadliest terrorist attack in Egypt's modern history.