An officer was shot dead by unknown assailants near a police station in North Sinai's Al-Arish, interior ministry spokesperson Abu Bakr Abdel-Karim announced on Monday.

The assailants opened fire near the police station, killing officer Mohamed Saied Hafez, who was in charge of securing the facility.

The interior ministry announced in the statement that they are intensifying security around the scene of the shooting in the hopes of detaining the perpetrators.

No one has yet claimed responsibility for the shooting.

Egypt's army has been fighting an Islamist insurgency in parts of North Sinai, which has resulted in the deaths of hundreds of militants, members of security forces, and local residents.