Egypt's army said on Wednesday that a leader of the Daesh terrorist group was killed during security raids in Central Sinai.
Military spokesman Tamer al-Refai said in a statement that Nasser Abu Zaqoul, the leader of the terrorist group in central Sinai, was killed in a shoot-out with troops who raided a number of mountainous areas in the province.
A machine gun, two hand grenades and ammunition were found with the slain militant, the spokesman added.
On Saturday, the Egyptian military said that eight soldiers were killed and 15 others wounded in Central Sinai when militants blew themselves up.
The suicide bombers were part of a group of 14 militants who attempted to attack a military base in the region, it said.
The remaining militants were killed in a shoot-out with troops at the base, it added.
In February, Egypt launched a major security operation against "terrorists and criminal organizations" in the Sinai Peninsula - where security forces are battling Daesh terrorists - and elsewhere.
More than 100 of the rebels and at least 30 government troops have been killed since the operation, dubbed "Sinai 2018," was launched, according to official figures.
Hundreds of soldiers, police and civilians have been killed in the attacks.
In late November, President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi gave three months for his security forces to re-establish control in Sinai, a deadline since extended.
Sisi secured a second term with an overwhelming victory in a presidential poll last month with 97.1 percent of the vote.
On Saturday the president extended a nationwide state of emergency originally declared in April 2017 by a further three months.
It is the fourth extension of the measure, imposed in the wake of attacks against Coptic Christian churches in the cities of Tanta and Alexandria, which killed 45 people.
A regional state of emergency has already been in place in Sinai for several years.
Egypt has seen a spate of attacks targeting security forces, mainly in northern Sinai, since the army's 2013 overthrow of President Mohammed Morsi.
