An army conscript was killed and seven were injured on Wednesday following an explosion at an army checkpoint in Northern Sinai's Rafah, security sources said.

The sources told Aswat Masriya that unknown gunmen placed a car bomb near the checkpoint earlier today.

Egypt has tightened its security measures in Sinai to combat militancy which has risen sharply in the peninsula since the ouster of Islamist President Mohamed Mursi.

In a separate incident, four people were killed and more than ten were wounded earlier on Wednesday following a blast at an intelligence building in Sinai.