CAIRO, May 29 (Xinhua) -- The Egyptian armed forces killed eight terrorists over the past few days in the Sinai Peninsula as part of the country's anti-terror military operation "Sinai 2018," the Egyptian military spokesman said in a statement on Tuesday.
"The militants were killed in a shootout with troops during combing and manhunt operations in Central and North Sinai," the military said.
Also the raids destroyed 20 vehicles, 79 motorcycles, 80 hideouts containing ammunition, explosive devices and books that promote the extremist ideologies.
Meanwhile, the air force destroyed two vehicles laden with weapons and ammunition before they infiltrated the strategic western border of Egypt, the statement added.
The border guards have detected an underground warehouse full of ammunition in the western desert area.
As many as 578 people attempting to sneak the western border in an illegal immigration operation were arrested.
More than 286 terrorists and at least 37 soldiers have been killed in the massive operation launched on February 9.
Egypt's North Sinai province has been the center of terrorist attacks that killed hundreds of policemen and soldiers following the military ouster of former Islamist President Mohamed Morsi in July 2013 in response to mass protests.
Most of the terror attacks were carried out by a Sinai-based group affiliated with the Islamic State (IS) regional terrorist group. Enditem
