The armed forces announced on Sunday that they killed two alleged extremist in North Sinai amid the ongoing military operations fighting terrorism in the region, military spokesperson Tamer Al-Refaei said in a statement. Two cars were destroyed in process. According to the statement, the military forces of the second field army attacked a den of extremists and destroyed a vehicle and two motor bikes. Also on Saturday night, a militant attack on a police checkpoint in North Sinai's city of Al-Arish injured two policemen, according to state-owned media. An unnamed official source told state-owned media that the Ministry of Interior is intensifying security measures in the area of the attack, while explosives experts are sweeping the area for bombs. Last week, the military said that clashes between army forces and militants at several outposts in southern Rafah killed around 40 militants and led to the destruction of 6 cars that were used in the attack. Since 2013, state security forces, represented by both the army and the police, have been engaged in violent clashes with "Sinai Province", a group previously known as Ansar Beit Al-Maqdis. In 2014, the group declared its affiliation with the Islamic State (IS) and has launched deadly attacks on army and police checkpoints. Over the last three years, the Egyptian armed forces have launched counter-attacks against militants' stationing points across the Sinai Peninsula, where the group is based in the cities of Sheikh Zuweid, Rafah, and Al-Arish. A state of emergency in North Sinai was first declared in 2013 by then-interim president Adly Mansour, who came into power following the ouster of Morsi. It has been extended following this year's extremist attacks on Coptic churches during Palm Sunday.
