241 'terrorists' killed in North Sinai in 5 days: Military

An Egyptian military personnel carrier patrols on the Egyptian side of the border between Egypt and Rafah in the southern Gaza Strip, Wednesday, July 1, 2015

The Egyptian army has killed 241 terrorists in North Sinai over the past five days, the army's spokesman said in a statement on Monday.

From 1 to 5 July, the army also arrested four wanted terrorists and 29 other suspects, the statement read.

Four terrorist headquarters were also destroyed, spokesman Mohamed Samir added in a statement on his official Facebook page that also included pictures of the mangled bodies of dead alleged terrorists.

On Saturday, the army published videos of airstrikes on these hideouts.

The statement added that 26 vehicles used by terrorists were destroyed, including 11 land cruisers, while 16 bombs, prepared to attack army and police personnel in the peninsula, were made safe.

Army personnel confiscated a number of militant weapons, including RPGs, machine guns, mortar shells, and hand grenades.

The army has intensified its offensive in the peninsula after simultaneous attacks on military personnel on Wednesday, claimed by Islamist militant group Ansar Beit Al-Maqdis (ABM), left at least 21 soldiers dead.

On Saturday, President Abdel-Fattah El-Sisi visited troops in North Sinai, donning his military uniform for the first time since he took office in June 2014, to show his "respect" and "recognition" for their part in the "fight against terrorism."

The decade-long militant insurgency in North Sinai has intensified in the past two years, with hundreds of army and police personnel killed. The army has also announced the killing of hundreds of terrorists.

In November 2014, ABM claimed allegiance to the Islamic State militant group that controls large swathes of Syria and Iraq.