The state-owned Nile News television reported that an Egyptian air force Apache helicopter fired on the militants´ vehicles in the north of the peninsula.[break]
A military official in Sinai, who spoke to reporters on condition of anonymity, said "20 terrorists were killed" in the operation in a village named Tumah.
"The operation is continuing," he said. Other security officials in the north of Sinai reported air strikes near the town of Sheikh Zuwayid, close to the village.
Overnight, unknown assailants attacked security checkpoints near the town of El-Arish, the officials said, adding that no one was killed in a gunfight that ensued.
Related story
10 killed in blitz car bomb attack in Egypt's Sinai
