CAIRO (Reuters) - Egyptian soldiers killed 14 militants and arrested ten others in a raid in central Sinai, the military said on Monday.

The operation over the past five days destroyed three car bombs and 10 other explosive devices and seized weapons, communication devices and military clothing, the army spokesman added.

An Islamist insurgency in the Sinai Peninsula has gained pace since the military toppled President Mohamed Mursi of the Muslim Brotherhood, Egypt’s oldest Islamist movement, in 2013 following mass protests against him.

Sinai Province, the militant group behind the insurgency, pledged allegiance to Islamic State in 2014 and has been accused of killing hundreds of soldiers and police since then.

Militant activity in central Sinai is less frequent than in its more restive north, where Islamic State attacks on military and police checkpoints are common.

(Corrects 100 explosive devices to ten in paragraph two)