The Egyptian Army has killed scores of militants in the northern Sinai Peninsula within the past 10 days, a military spokesman said on Sunday.
In a statement posted on Facebook, Brigadier General Mohamed Samir said army forces had killed 252 militants since July 1, Middle East Eye reported.
According to Samir, 76 individuals suspected of engaging in militant activity had also been detained over the same period, 13 of whom had been wanted by the authorities.
The spokesman added that 58 vehicles and 43 motorbikes used by militants to carry out attacks had been destroyed during the period.
Egyptian security forces have stepped up their campaign against suspected militants in the region since a series of fatal, coordinated attacks on army checkpoints in North Sinai on July 1.
There have been wide variations of the reported numbers of those killed in the attacks with some news agencies reporting as many as 70 killed.
Days later, Egyptian officials, who said 21 people died in the attacks, said they were introducing anti-terrorism legislation that could see journalists jailed for a minimum of two years for reporting information that contradicts official statements.
Northern Sinai has become the epicenter of a deadly insurgency against Egyptian security personnel since mid-2013, when Egypt’s military ousted the country’s first freely-elected president, Mohamed Morsi.
