At least 13 policemen were killed in an armed attack on a checkpoint in the North Sinai city of Arish on Saturday, Egypt's interior ministry said in an official statement.

Sources told Al-Ahram Arabic news website that security forces are currently undertaking operations to apprehend the armed men, who launched mortar shells at the checkpoint in the El-Safa neighbourhood of the city.

There has been no official account of the injured yet.

The Islamic State group claimed responsibility for the attack, saying in a statement published online that it had deployed a suicide bomber who blew up a car at the checkpoint, before militants attacked the site, according to AFP.

Egyptian forces have been grappling with an Islamist insurgency based in parts of the North Sinai governorate, which spiked following the 2013 ouster of Islamist president Mohamed Morsi.

The insurgency has killed hundreds of Egyptian security forces. The Egyptian army has announced it also killed hundreds of militants.