An improvised explosive device detonated in the late hours of Saturday killing two of its suspected planters and injuring a third in Egypt’s Sharqiya governorate.

The three assailants were planting a bomb in Al-Ibrahimiya municipal garage when the device accidentally went off.

The police managed to arrest the third assailant and referred him to the prosecution for investigation, an interior ministry statement read.

Since the ouster of Islamist president Mohamed Morsi in July 2013, Egypt has been hit by a rising wave of attacks reportedly by Islamist militants that have claimed the lives of hundreds of security forces.

The deadliest attacks have been centered in the country's restive Sinai Peninsula, where the Egyptian government has been battling a militant Islamist insurgency in the past decade.

Attacks in North Sinai are mostly claimed by the Islamic State-affiliated group, Ansar Beit Al-Maqdis.

In recent months, dozens of smaller bombs have been planted by alleged militants nationwide targetting economic installations such as electricity pylons and mobile phone shops.

Militants have also placed a large number of decoy and sound bombs in various spots around the capital and other cities.