ARISH, Egypt -- At least 15 military men and four civilians were killed in simultaneous armed attacks on checkpoints in Egypt's Sinai Peninsula on Thursday, a security source told Xinhua.
"The militants attacked four checkpoints in North Sinai to distract security attention, but they focused on one south of Sheikh Zuweid city," the source said, noting that the assailants launched two blasts and fired at the military men there.
Some 19 civilians and 19 security men were injured in the attacks carried out by unidentified militants during which they used machine guns and rockets.
Meanwhile, the source added at least 15 militants were killed during fire exchange with security forces who managed to find out their hiding places at some areas in Sheikh Zuweid.
Later in the evening, the military air forces launched raids on extremists' hideouts at Al-Hadaida and Al-Fitat towns southern Sheikh Zuweid and killed around 40 militants.
He pointed out that the air forces used Apaches and two F16 aircrafts during their anti-militants attacks and that no civilians were killed or wounded in the raids.
Official MENA news agency said 15 suspects were arrested during security raids in Sheikh Zuweid and Egypt-Gaza border city of Rafah.
No group has yet claimed responsibility for Thursday's attacks.
Terrorist activities mounted in Egypt since the ouster of former Islamist President Mohamed Morsi by the army in July 2013 and the following security crackdown on his loyalists that left about 1,000 killed and thousands more arrested.
On the other hand, hundreds of police and army personnel were killed in anti-government attacks carried out by extremist, self-proclaimed Islamists.
Most of the attacks took place in the restive peninsula but they extended to reach the capital Cairo and other provinces across the country.
Sinai-based Ansar Bayt al-Maqdis (ABM), which has recently pledged allegiance to the Islamic State (IS) regional militant group, claimed responsibility for most of the anti-government attacks in Egypt.
Separately on Thursday, a blast went off at a mall on a highway in Qalioubiya province without casualties. And in Sharqiya province, the security forces managed to defuse two explosive devices targeting a power transmission tower.
