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Suicide bombing and shooting on an army checkpoint in North Sinai killed and wounded 26 soldiers on Friday, the Egyptian army said in a statement.
A senior security official said that an improvised explosive device targeted the police's armored vehicle at Al-Safa district of Arish city in North Sinai, a place that borders Israel and the Gaza Strip, the official MENA news agency said.
"Security measures have been intensified around the explosion while a bomb disposal team is combing the area to make sure it is free of explosive devices," MENA quoted the security official as saying.
The explosion came a day after a car bomber attacked a checkpoint in North Sinai's nearby Rafah city, causing at least 66 deaths and injuries, according to the Egyptian military spokesman.
Also on Saturday, the Egyptian police killed 14 terrorists in a fire exchange in a desert area in the Suez Canal province of Ismailia, for their alleged involvement in attacks against security forces in North Sinai.
Meanwhile, Egyptian President Abdel-Fattah al-Sisi called a meeting on Saturday with the country's top officials including the ministers of defense, interior affairs and justice as well as the head of general intelligence over Friday's attack.
"The forces of extremism attempt to undermine stability and security of the country," said the Egyptian president.
Egypt has been facing a rising wave of terrorist activities following the military removal of former Islamist President Mohamed Morsi in July 2013 in response to mass protests against his one-year rule and his now-outlawed Muslim Brotherhood group.
Terror attacks had been centered in restive North Sinai before they prevailed nationwide, killing hundreds of policemen and soldiers over the past few years.
They have recently started to target the Coptic minority and their churches across the country since late December 2016.
Most of the terrorist operations were claimed by a Sinai-based group loyal to the regional Islamic State (IS) militant group.
Security raids in Egypt killed hundreds of militants and arrested a similar number of suspects as part of the country's anti-terror war declared by then-military chief and now President Sisi.
(ASIA PACIFIC DAILY)
