Security services seized several kinds of weapons in a desert area located 30 kilometers from Marsa Matrouh Governorate, state-run news agency MENA reported.

The Interior Ministry said Monday that security seized the weapons as part of an initiative taken by tribesmen to turn in unlicensed weapons in Marsa Matrouh.

The weapons included five anti-aircraft guns, three machine guns, 173 rounds of ammunition and two Lee-Enfield rifles.

This is the third such seizure in less than a month.

The Interior Ministry said it had previously seized an anti-aircraft gun, 11 machine guns, two Morse rifles and a Lee-Enfield rifle, according to MENA.

Last week, security forces found weapons and missiles used by the military in three cars on the Alexandria-Marsa Matrouh Desert Road.

The Interior Ministry said that police discovered 40 ground-to-ground missiles and 17 rocket-propelled grenades, potentially for use in attacking armored vehicles and tanks, in addition to other weapons still being counted and identified.

Media outlets have reported that weapons smuggling across the Egypt-Libya border has increased since the overthrow and killing of Libyan leader Muammar Qadhafi last year.

Residents of Siwa, an Egyptian oasis near the Libyan border, accused smugglers last February of starting massive fires on their farms as punishment for their cooperation with Egyptian authorities to tighten security measures in the region.