CAIRO, Apr. 19 (Aswat Masriya) – Three conscripts were killed and eight others injured in an armed attack on a police vehicle in North Sinai's Sheikh Zuweid, Egypt's interior ministry said on Tuesday.

The conscripts belong to the Central Security Forces (CSF), according to the ministry. 

Unidentified assailants attacked one of the vehicles of a security convoy responsible for overseeing the security situation in Sheikh Zuwaid using a rocket-propelled grenade (RPG), the ministry added.

The injured were transferred to the hospital for treatment, while security forces surveyed the area in search for the attackers.

Militancy inside Egypt has seen a significant rise since the military ouster of President Mohamed Mursi in July 2013, following mass protests against his rule.

North Sinai is at the epicenter of militant insurgency as most attacks take place there, targeting security forces.

According to separate statements by the armed forces, Egyptian security forces have killed hundreds of militants in Sinai over the past two years.

The Islamic State-affiliate known as the Sinai Province has frequently claimed responsibility for attacks occurring in the Sinai Peninsula.