Security forces raided the houses of suspected militants on Tuesday, killing seven of the suspects and arresting 34 others in Egypt's North Sinai governorate, a security source told Xinhua.

"The raid destroyed 18 houses, 33 huts, 19 vehicles and 21 bikes used by the extremists in their anti-security attacks," the security source said, adding the raid took place in the villages of Sheikh Zuweid, Rafah and Arish cities in North Sinai, located northeast of the capital Cairo in the Sinai Peninsula.

He added that police and military security forces seized large amounts of weapons and ammunition including grenades, mortar shells, machine guns and explosives.

The raid is part of a massive campaign by the security forces to clamp down on Islamist extremists who have been accused of orchestrating the recent attacks on security forces in the Sinai Peninsula and other parts of the country including the capital.

Over the past few weeks, similar security operations in Sinai left dozens killed and many others arrested.

Since the ouster of Islamist President Mohamed Morsi by the military last July, attacks against security personnel and buildings have mounted and security forces say Islamist militants are using the peninsula as a stronghold. The al-Qaida-inspired, Sinai-based group, Ansar Bayt al-Maqdis has claimed responsibility for many of the reported attacks.

The group had previously claimed responsibility for a series of blasts in Cairo and other governorates, including a recent tourist bus blast that killed three South Koreans and the Egyptian bus driver in Taba town in South Sinai.