LOC15:10
12:10 GMT
CAIRO, April 20 (KUNA) -- At least there security personnel, including an officer, were killed and a soldier was injured in a blast targeting an armored vehicle in North Sinai's Rafah early Monday.
Following the blast, security forces started combing the area for more bombs and arresting the attackers, Egypt's official Middle East News Agency (MENA) reported, adding that the injured personnel was transferred to hospital.
Egyptian authorities announced a state of high alert in North Sinai after the blast, and all exits and entrances to the governorate were sealed off and more troops are patrolling the streets, it added.
No group has claimed its responsibility for the blast so far.
Ansar Bayt Al-Maqdis in Sinai has claimed responsibility for most attacks carried out in the governorate since 2013. The group pledged allegiance to the Islamic State in Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) fighters last November and renamed itself as the "Sinai Province".
According to military statements, at least 300 suspected militants were killed by security forces in campaigns launched in North Sinai during February and March. (end)
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