Egyptian forces have killed 141 suspected militants in the restive North Sinai region during the month of May, Press TV reports.

The suspected militants were killed in “various confrontations” with security forces carrying out raids or defending checkpoints, said Mohamed Samir, a spokesman for the Egyptian armed forces, in a statement on Tuesday.

Samir added that 393 suspects were arrested during the same period and 60 shelters belonging to militants were destroyed in the region.

Egypt has seen a significant rise in militant attacks since the July 2013 ouster of the country’s first democratically-elected president, Mohamed Morsi, in a military coup led by Abdel Fattah el-Sisi, the then head of the armed forces and current president.

In late April, the Egyptian government extended by three months a state of emergency it had imposed on parts of the northern portion of Sinai in October 2014. The move came after an increase in militant attacks in the region.

MRA/HSN