The Egyptian government is set to pump in more than E£100 billion ($5.6 billion) into infrastructure development projects in the insurgency-hit Sinai peninsula over the next two to three years, said a report.

The coast of the south of the Sina peninsula is peppered with Red Sea tourist resorts, while the northern province is underdeveloped and lacks basic infrastructure and job opportunities, reported Reuters.

Security forces have battled Islamist militants in the mainly desert region, stretching from the Suez Canal eastwards to the Gaza Strip and Israel, since 2013. Militants have killed hundreds of police and soldiers, it stated.

Speaking at a ceremony to inaugurate a development project in the Suez Canal city of Ismailia, President Abdel Fattah Al Sisi said: "We have entrusted the ministry of housing and the engineering authority with a national project of comprehensive urban planning."

"The E£100 billion projects would be carried out whether I remain in power or not," he added.