Security officials in Egypt have confirmed that military helicopters have fired missiles on suspected Islamist militants near the town of al-Arish in the Sinai peninsula, the BBC news reported.

The military offensive comes after gunmen in the area attacked security checkpoints, killing 16 Egypt border guards.

An army commander in Sinai told Reuters: “We have succeeded in entering al-Toumah village, killed 20 terrorists and destroyed three armoured cars belonging to terrorists. Operations are still ongoing”.

Following the attack, Israeli forces said they killed seven gunmen who broke through into Israel, the BBC reported.

Both Israeli and Egyptian officials have blamed Sunday’s attack on Islamist militants, but Egypt’s Muslim Brotherhood holds Israeli spy agency, Mossad, responsible for Sunday’s killings.

They said the attack was the Israeli government’s attempt to undermine newly elected Islamist president, Mohammed Mursi. Israel denies the allegations, calling it nonsense.