A series of explosions and gunshots were heard on Friday afternoon near several Sheikh Zuwaid checkpoints and police station in the restive Sinai Peninsula.

Two were injured, one police officer and one conscript, in the attack that targeted one of the checkpoints, state news agency MENA reported.

The explosions started exactly at sunset as locals in North Sinai were breaking their Ramadan fast, according to eyewitnesses.

"We went to the ground floor [of the building] in fear of the missiles falling on us," Yasser, a local resident, told Al-Ahram Arabic news website.

Apaches were flying over the governorate, Yasser added.

Eyewitnesses also said they heard gunshots targeting at an armoured vehicle deployed in their neighbourhood. Residents of Sheikh Zuwaid were asked not to leave their residences, Al-Ahram reported.

Ambulances were unable to reach the site of the attack as clashes reportedly erupted between unknown militants and army forces, MENA reported.

The Sinai Peninsula, near Egypt’s borders with Israel, has seen a spike in violence since the removal of Mohamed Morsi by the army amid nation-wide protests demanding his ouster early this month.

At least 23 members of the security forces and 10 civilians have been killed in North Sinai's Al-Arish by suspected Jihadist militants since Morsi's ouster.