CAIRO, Jan 4 (Aswat Masriya) – A military soldier was killed on Sunday while dismantling explosive devices in North Sinai's Sheikh Zuweid, the armed forces spokesman said.

"The terrorist incident also left two officers and a soldier injured," said Spokesman Mohamed Samir in a statement. He added that the injured personnel were taken to al-Arish Military Hospital.

The armed forces offered its condolences to the families of the killed military soldier, Mohamed Harbi, in Samir's statement.

Militants have stepped up attacks targeting security forces in Egypt, particularly in the Sinai Peninsula, since the army's ouster of Islamist President Mohamed Mursi in July 2013, which followed mass protests against his rule.

At least 30 military personnel were killed in a suicide blast which targeted a security checkpoint in Sinai's Sheikh Zuweid on October 24, in the worst militant attack since Mursi's ouster. 

Egypt's most dangerous militant group, the Sinai-based Ansar Bayt al-Maqdis, claimed responsibility for the attack in a video released on November 14, shortly after pledging allegiance to the leader of the Islamic State fighters in Iraq and Syria.

President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi declared a three-month state of emergency and a nighttime curfew in parts of the Sinai Peninsula in response to the attack.