CAIRO, Apr 23 (Aswat Masriya) - Egyptian President Abdel Fattah's al-Sisi said Sinai faces terrorism that bears "malicious intentions," in a speech on Thursday, in celebration of the Sinai Liberation day.

The president said "our confrontation with terrorism and extremism is not limited to Egypt" but encompasses the region, which faces crises and challenges, in his address which was aired on state television.    

He said Egypt, alongside its "Arab brothers", will not allow any force seeking to spread its influence and control over the Arab world to achieve its goals. 

"Egypt will not allow [the] threatening of its national security", Sisi added.  

The Sinai peninsula was liberated from Israeli control in 1982 but it is currently at the epicentre of militancy which has surged since July 2013.  

Sisi said the Egyptian state has in mind the development of Sinai, through a comprehensive plan, on both the urban and economic levels. 

Sisi referred to "battles" waged by the military, in cooperation with the police in Sinai. Amid an intensified campaign to counter insurgency, the army said, it killed over 300 suspected militants in security campaigns in North Sinai during the months of February, March and April, in a number of separate statements.