Policeman killed, four others injured in explosion in North Sinai

Cairo: At least one police officer was killed and four others injured after a roadside bomb targeted their vehicle in Egypt's restive North Sinai governorate.

The vehicle was on a security mission in el-Masaeed district in North Sinai when the bomb went off.

Security forces combed the area in search for the attackers. The injured policemen were transferred to Al-Arish Military hospital for treatment, officials said.

Egypt's North Sinai became the stage of many violent attacks by militants since the January 2011 revolution that toppled the ex-president Hosni Mubarak.

The attacks targeting police and military increased after the ouster of Islamist ex-president Mohamed Morsi in 2013 by military following massive protests against his rule.

Over 700 security personnel have been reported killed since then.

The military has launched security campaigns in the area, arrested suspects and demolished houses that belong to terrorists, including those facilitating tunnels leading to the Gaza Strip.