A roadside bomb blast wounded 18 police personnel earlier Thursday in Al-Arish, North Sinai, a security source told MENA news agency.

The source added that the injured included 14 police personnel and 4 conscripts. 

According to AFP the roadside bombed a bus carrying the police personnel on Al-Arish highway. 

Last Wednesday, simultaneous attacks in two North Sinai cities on Wednesday left 21 army personnel, including four officers, killed and more than 100 militants dead, according to the army.

The fight continued for several hours between Egyptian security forces and militants affiliated with the Islamic State (IS) in Sheikh Zuweid city, until the Egyptian air force conducted air strikes there and forced the militants to withdraw.

The decade-long militant insurgency in North Sinai has intensified in the past two years, with hundreds of army and police personnel killed. The army has also announced the killing of hundreds of terrorists.