Egyptian troops arrest 9 militants in Sinai

Cairo -The soldiers arrested them at around 6 a.m. local time (0400 GMT) without exchanging gunfire as they were sleeping, said the source.

Egypt intensified its security operation to eliminate terrorists in North Sinai with more military equipment dispatched to the area.

On Thursday, A fleet of 20 armored vehicles and 30 trucks carrying two tanks each arrived in Al-Arish, the capital of North Sinai, a local security source told Xinhua.

He added that a sweeping operation will soon begin to search for weapons and ammunition possessed by the militants in Sinai.

Heavy equipment has also been sent to Rafah to destroy illicit tunnels used by smugglers between Egypt and the Gaza Strip. Local security sources say there are about 1,200 such tunnels cross the border.

State-run Al-Ahram newspaper reported 60 militants have been killed and 150 tunnels have been destroyed since the operation started on Tuesday in response to the attack on a checkpoint in southern

Rafah, which killed 16 soldiers and injured seven others.

Local security sources several thousand militants are estimated to be in Sinai.