Soldiers killed in blast in Egypt's North Sinai

Explosion targets military vehicle near town of Sheikh Zuweid, in latest in a long line of attacks on security forces.

An explosion targeting a military vehicle has killed five Egyptian soldiers near the town of Sheikh Zuweid in North Sinai on Sunday, Reuters news agency says quoting a security official.

Egypt has conducted a long-running campaign in the Sinai Peninsula against fighters from the group formerly known as Ansar Beit al-Maqdis but who are now fighting under the banner of the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) group.

Early in April, a series of ambushes targeting the military killed 15 soldiers and two civilians.

The army said 15 of the attackers were also killed  in the clashes.

Sunday's incident was the deadliest attack in Sinai since suicide car bombers and attackers killed several dozen soldiers at a military base in El Arish in January.