At least three militants were killed Saturday in a massive military raid on hairline militants in North Sinai's Rafah city bordering Israel, a security source told Xinhua on condition of anonymity.
"One of the three militants turned out to be Ahmed Ehmidan, leader of the military wing of Ansar Beit al-Maqdis, an al-Qaida- inspired Sinai-based Jihadist group," the source said.
He said that the raid has been launched at al-Mahdiya town in southern Rafah at the borders with Israel, noting the militants had machine guns, ammunition and explosives in their possession.
Meanwhile, the military campaign found and destroyed two secret tunnels in Sinai leading to the adjacent Palestinian Gaza Strip governed by Hamas according to the source, who noted that other three extremists were arrested in Sheikh Zuweid city.
Since Islamist-oriented president Mohamed Morsi was ousted by the army last July, hardliners took the peninsula as a stronghold for targeting police and army premises.
Over the past few months, the Egyptian army launched large- scale security operations in coordination with police to uproot terrorist hideouts in Sinai's Rafah and Sheikh Zuweid cities.