CAIRO, Jan. 11 (Xinhua) -- Egyptian authorities deported on Friday one of two German men who were investigated over suspected attempting to join an Islamic State (IS) group affiliate in Sinai, state-run Ahram website reported.

The 23-year-old Egyptian-born man, Mahmoud Abdel Aziz, was initially reported missing in December.

The man had been earlier arrested at Cairo airport for allegedly attempting to join IS militants in Egypt's Sinai, the report added, quoting security sources as saying.

Abdel Aziz, who was reportedly arrested on Dec. 27, was deported to Germany on Friday early hours.

He was a student at an Islamic university in Saudi Arabia, the report added.

Both men carried dual Egyptian-German nationalities, but Abdel Aziz had relinquished his Egyptian nationality.

Meanwhile, Essa Al-Sabagh, 18, who had been earlier arrested at Egypt's southern city of Luxor, would be deported after the completion of relevant procedures, the report added.

Maps of North Sinai, an Egyptian hotbed for IS, were found in his possession.

He purportedly came to Egypt to join extremists in North Sinai, according to security sources.

Egypt has been battling Islamist militants in North Sinai since the 2013 military ouster of Islamist president Mohamed Morsi in response to mass protests against his rule.

The attacks killed hundreds of security men and civilians in Egypt.

Meanwhile, Egypt has launched an anti-terror campaign in February to crush militants across the country, which killed more than 800 terrorists.