Story highlights Assailants attacked the checkpoint using four-wheel drive vehicles

Egyptian military officials are sweeping the area for remains of the militant group

(CNN) An attack by "armed terrorists" on a security checkpoint in the northern half of the Sinai Peninsula on Friday has left a dozen military personnel dead, according to Egypt's military. Fifteen terrorists also died in the attack.

The assailants attacked the checkpoint using four-wheel drive vehicles, the military said in a statement. Egyptian military officials are sweeping the area for remains of the militant group.

This is the latest attack in a battle for control over the Sinai Peninsula between Islamist militants and the Egyptian military. The militants have been waging an insurgency against the military since the army toppled President Mohammed Morsi of the Muslim Brotherhood in 2013.