A security source said Thursday that seven extremists were arrested in a military operation in Sheikh Zuwayed and Rafah.
The source added that 25 huts, six vehicles and a number of motorcycles were burned during the operation in different villages.
The military operation will continue to eliminate the criminal hotbeds in Sinai, the source said, noting that the military forces raided the areas of al-Metellah, al-Hussayneyat,and al-Mahdeya located in Sheikh Zuwayed and Rafah.
The security source claimed the 25 huts, cars and motorcycles destroyed during the operation were used by extremists for their attacks against the armed forces in Mahdeya.
Four entrances to tunnels to smuggle goods and people have been also destroyed north of Rafah border crossing, he added.
The security measures were tightened in North Sinai ahead of the anniversary of 25 January revolution as further armored vehicles were deployed at checkpoints and at entrances to the cities.
Many local residents in North Sinai, however, complain of random retaliatory attacks by the army against civilians, sometimes burning whole neighborhoods. An informed military source told Egypt Independent that all homes burned were targeted intentionally using intelligence information collected.
Edited translation from Al-Masry Al-Youm
