A jihadist group kidnapped six Egyptian police officers and a border guard in Egypt's Sinai early Thursday, security officials said Maan reported.
The servicemen were traveling to Cairo for their monthly vacation in two taxis when gunmen ambushed them in Wadi al-Akhdar, between el-Arish and Sheikh Zuweid cities, security sources told Ma'an.
The officers were taken to a desert area near al-Arjra, and the kidnappers planned to send them to the Gaza Strip via smuggling tunnels, the security officials said.
They said the gunmen were demanding the release of suspects accused of killing Egyptian officers in an attack on el-Arish police station in August.
An official in Egypt's Interior Ministry promised a harsh response if the officers were not released.
Local Bedouin leaders have been called in to mediate between authorities and the kidnappers.
A spate of hostage takings, which usually last for no longer than 48 hours, broke out in Sinai after an uprising forced out President Hosni Mubarak in early 2011 and battered his security services.
Islamist militants have exploited the lawlessness and upheaval in the Sinai peninsula to establish a launchpad for increasingly brazen attacks on security forces, a key gas export pipeline and on neighboring Israel.
The Sinai kidnappers are usually Bedouin who want to trade the hostages for jailed fellow tribesmen.
Bedouin have recently kidnapped tourists from Hungary, Israeli and Norway in the south of the peninsula, which is dotted with beach resorts, to press for the release of jailed relatives.
Last month, at least two Grad rockets fired from Sinai exploded in the Israeli Red Sea resort of Eilat.
Over the past few years, there has been intermittent rocket fire on Eilat from Sinai.
In April last year, a rocket fired from Sinai hit Eilat but caused no casualties, with police finding another unexploded rocket near the city days later.
In August, another two rockets rocked Eilat, again injuring no-one.
Since the collapse of Mubarak's regime, Israel's border with Sinai has seen multiple security incidents, with militants using the lawless peninsula to stage attacks on Israel.
The most serious incident was in August 2011, when gunmen infiltrated southern Israel and staged a series of ambushes that killed eight Israelis.