Egyptian security forces discovered a cache of explosives on Sunday in the Sinai peninsula, where bomb attacks have killed more than 100 people since 2004, security sources said.

The cache consisted of at least 500 kg of TNT hidden in two gas containers and large plastic bags and was found in the desert area near al-Arish, on Egypt's Mediterranean coast, the sources said.

They said the explosives were discovered after a tip-off and no arrests had been made.

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"We received information that some elements were concealing large quantities of explosives," one of the sources said, speaking on condition of anonymity.

Egypt has blamed the Sinai attacks, the last of which took place in April, on an Islamist militant group called al-Tawhid wal Jihad (One God and Jihad) and says the group is made up of Sinai Bedouin with militant views.