Two police officers were killed when an IED exploded inside an armoured vehicle in North Sinai's Al-Arish, the interior ministry said in a statement on Friday.

Five conscripts also suffered minor injuries in the explosion near Ahmed Orabi school, and were transferred to hospital.

The two officers who were killed held the ranks of first lieutenant and captain.

The ministry said investigations are underway to apprehend the perpetrators.

Egypt's army has been fighting an Islamist insurgency for decades, which spiked following the ouster of Islamist president Mohamed Morsi in 2013. Hundreds of Islamist militants and security forces have been killed since.

The army said earlier this month that they had killed 26 “terrorists” in raids in North Sinai as part of the ongoing “Martyr’s Right” operation to rid the area of terrorism, which began in September 2015.

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