At least 28 extremists were killed and 16 suspects arrested in a security campaign south of Rafah and Sheikh Zuweid cities in the restive North Sinai province, a security source told Xinhua.

"The raid destroyed 15 huts, seven vehicles and 24 motorbikes and seized a truck carrying a ton of oil, which all belonged to the extremists," the source said.

Over the past few weeks, the security troops killed over 200 militants in the restive peninsula as part of the "anti-terror war" launched by the new Egyptian leadership.

Egypt has been facing a rising wave of terrorism since Former Islamist President Mohamed Morsi was ousted in 2013.

The new leadership launched crackdown on Morsi's supporters, which has left at least 1,000 killed and thousands more arrested.

In the meantime, anti-government attacks have since extended from Sinai to the capital Cairo and other provinces across the country, leaving hundreds of military and police personnel dead.

Ansar Bayt al-Maqdis group, which has recently pledged allegiance to the regional Islamic State militant group, claimed responsibility for most of the deadly attacks.

In October 2014, a car-bomb attack in North Sinai killed around 30 Egyptian soldiers. Later in January, a series of simultaneous terrorist attacks and suicide bombings in the same province killed more than 30 military and policemen in addition to 14 civilians.

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