Seven Egyptian soldiers have been wounded in an attack by gunmen in the volatile Sinai Peninsula in the wake of a spate of militant assaults in the region, Egyptian media report.

The incident took place in Sheikh Zuweid, between the cities of al-Arish and Rafah, north of the peninsula on Saturday, reports said, adding that three gunmen were also killed in the raid.

The assault came hours after Egyptian President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi promised to defeat militants fighting government forces in the troubled region.

Sisi said his government is ready to brace for a long fight to defeat extremists after a wave of militant attacks in the area.

At least two children were killed in the peninsula on Friday, a day after some 44 people were killed and dozens of others injured in a series of militant attacks across the volatile region.

On Thursday, a massive car bomb went off outside the headquarters of the 101st Brigade of the Egyptian army in the city of el-Arish, situated 344 kilometers (214 miles) northeast of the capital, Cairo, leaving scores of people dead and wounded.

Separately, an office of Egypt’s most-widely-circulated daily, al-Ahram, was “completely destroyed” in an assault by gunmen on Thursday.

Two Egyptian army officers were also injured when an army convoy was targeted with mortar shells in the border town of Rafah on the same day.

Over an hour later, there were reports of another ambush on an army convoy just south of Rafah. Gunmen also reportedly attacked a checkpoint in Rafah.

The so-called Ansar Bait al-Maqdis militant group claimed responsibility for the Thursday attacks.

The Egyptian military considers the Sinai Peninsula a safe haven for gunmen who use the region as a base for their “acts of terror.”