More than 100 dead as militants, Egyptian army clash in North Sinai

Smoke rises in Egypt's North Sinai as seen from the border of southern Gaza Strip with Egypt July 1, 2015. Islamic State militants launched a wide-scale coordinated assault on several military checkpoints in Egypt's North Sinai on Wednesday in which 50 people were killed, security sources said, the largest attack yet in the insurgency-hit province. REUTERS/Ibraheem Abu Mustafa TPX IMAGES OF THE DAY

ISMAILIA, Egypt/CAIRO (Reuters) - Egypt's army said on Wednesday more than 100 militants and 17 soldiers were killed after simultaneous assaults on military checkpoints in North Sinai, in the deadliest fighting in years in the restive province.

After a day of fighting, which involved F-16 jets and Apache helicopters, the army said it would not stop its operations until it had cleared the area of all "terrorist concentrations".