Militant group Ansar Beit Al-Maqdis has claimed responsibility for an attack on Sunday that killed six soldiers in North Sinai.

In a short statement published on Twitter the militant group said it had targetted “the apostate army” near Sheikh Zuweid. 

A first lieutenant, a sergeant and four conscripts were killed when a roadside bomb struck their armoured vehicle on the Al-Arish to Sheikh Zuweid road, army spokesman Mohamed Samir announced on Sunday.

Ansar Beit Al-Maqdis has claimed many attacks against the army and police in Sinai.

Last Friday, the group, which has pledge allegiance to Islamic State, published a graphic video showing the execution of a 20-year-old soldier kidnapped during the group’s attack on security checkpoints on 3 April which killed 15 soldiers. The video also included the beheading of a local man from Sinai for allegedly collaborating with Israeli spy agency Mossad. 

Egypt's army is fighting an Islamist insurrection based in the northern part of the Sinai Peninsula, which has heightened since the ouster of Islamist president Mohamed Morsi in July 2013. The violence has mainly targeted security forces, killing hundreds.

Hundreds of alleged militants have been arrested or killed in the military campaign launched to combat the violence.