Attack on Sinai checkpoint kills 11 Egyptian troops: Army

Cairo: One officer and 10 Egyptian soldiers were killed on Saturday in Egypt's Sinai peninsula when militants attacked a checkpoint at a water pumping station, an army spokesman and security sources said.

It was one of the deadliest attacks in recent years in northern Sinai, where Egypt's security forces have been battling militants with links to Daesh.

The attack occurred on Saturday morning on the road leading east from the Suez Canal to Hasanah in the centre of Northern Sinai, two security sources said.

Militants attacked with an explosive-rigged vehicle and fired heavy weapons installed on pick-up trucks, before military reinforcements fought them off and gave chase, the sources said, speaking on condition of anonymity.

"The terrorist elements are being pursued and besieged in an isolated area in Sinai," Egyptian army spokesman Gharib Abdel Hafez said in a statement, adding that five others had been injured in the attack.

There was no immediate claim of responsibility.