CAIRO, Dec 29, (Aswat Masriya) - The Egyptian army has arrested three "Islamist radicals" in a security campaign in North Sinai, an army spokesman said on Sunday.

The authorities are now running a security check on the detained, Colonel Mohamed Ahmed Ali added through his official Facebook page.

The forces also destroyed four tunnels used for smuggling in Rafah city, which borders the Palestinian Gaza strip, according to Ali's statement.

The army has esclated its security crackdown on several tunnels connecting Egypt to Gaza since the murder of 16 border guards in Rafah by unknown militants in August 2012.

These tunnels supply the Palestinian strip with commercial goods as well weapons.