Two militants killed in Egypt’s Sinai Peninsula: Army

Two militants have been killed -- and several "terrorist hideouts" destroyed -- in the Sinai Peninsula, an Egyptian military spokesman said Friday.

In a statement, army spokesman Tamer Rifai said Egyptian military personnel in central Sinai had "eliminated" two militants and destroyed a number of "terrorist hideouts" containing "large quantities of bomb-making materials".

The spokesman did not provide any details as to how the militants had been "eliminated" but said army forces were "maintaining efforts to rid central Sinai of extremist and criminal elements".

Egypt has been fighting a militant insurgency since mid-2013, when the army ousted and imprisoned Mohamed Morsi, the country's first freely elected president, in a bloody military coup.

The insurgency has been largely confined to the northern Sinai Peninsula, but sporadic attacks have also occurred on the mainland, including capital Cairo.