The Egyptian Armed Forces announced on Friday that it has launched an extensive military operation in Sinai to eliminate militants from the restive peninsula.

Military spokesperson Tamer El-Refaei said in a televised statement that the operation aims to target “dens and ammunition storages that are being used by terrorist elements.”He added that the ongoing operation, which is dubbed Sinai 2018, includes navy, air force, and infantry forces.

The large scale operation comes as Egyptian authorities have been repeatedly promising to eliminate militants from the Sinai Peninsula.

As a precautionary measure due to the operation, state-owned news agency MENA reported, quoting security sources, that all Ministry of Interior forces have been placed on maximum alert nationwide.