The Egyptian army said Thursday it has killed 19 militants and arrested 20 suspects in the Sinai peninsula during a large-scale "anti-terror" operation. A military statement said 19 militants were killed in gunbattles with army and security forces in the central and northern Sinai in recent days.  Egyptian forces launched operation "Sinai 2018" in February in the peninsula where soldiers and security forces have been battling ISIS extremist group. Around 200 militants and at least 33 soldiers have been killed since the military campaign was launched, according to official figures. President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi, on a visit to the Sinai last month, promised residents the operation would be finished "as soon as possible". On Wednesday, an Egyptian court added the names of 241 suspected extremist militants to the countrys terrorism watch list for five years. The designation bars them from travel and grants authorities the right to freeze their assets. The Cairo Criminal Court said they are part of a group of 555 terror suspects who face military trial on charges of joining a local ISIS affiliate.  The charges include killing and plotting to kill security personnel, attacking military checkpoints in northern Sinai and sabotaging a gas pipeline between Egypt and Jordan.