CAIRO: Egypt’s military said on Sunday that 59 militants and seven soldiers were killed in fighting in North Sinai the previous day, including three soldiers in a checkpoint rocket attack.

Egyptian security officials said militants launched the attacks on two checkpoints using rocket-propelled grenades.

The military is battling militants loyal to Daesh group in North Sinai where an insurgency has surged over the past two years.

It said a total of seven soldiers were killed on Saturday, after previously saying three died in a checkpoint rocket attack which was claimed by Daesh.

The statement also said troops killed 59 militants.

“The men of the armed forces backed by air support targeted several terrorist dens on Saturday,” the statement said, listing 14 sites where operations took place.

On Saturday, it had said 20 militants were killed in an assault on a terror hide-out, and posted on Facebook a video of airstrikes on a building and two trucks.

The army also said four militants were captured and troops were still counting “terrorists killed in the air campaign.”

President Abdel Fattah El-Sissi says militants are an existential threat to Egypt, other Arab states and the West.