Militants fired rockets and set off a car bomb killing at least six soldiers Thursday in Egypt's North Sinai where security forces are battling an Islamist insurgency.
The attacks, which also wounded 30 people, targeted the police headquarters of North Sinai in the provincial capital of El-Arish, a nearby military base and a residential area for army and police officers.
Jihadists have regularly attacked security forces in the Sinai Peninsula where Egyptian police and army have been battling a raging Islamist insurgency since the army ousted president Mohamed Morsi in July 2013.
Jihadist groups say their attacks are in retaliation for a government crackdown against Morsi supporters that has left hundreds dead, thousands jailed and dozens sentenced to death after speedy trials.
Interior Ministry spokesman Hani Abdel Latif confirmed the El-Arish police headquarters was targeted with rockets.
"Several rockets were fired at the North Sinai security directorate and there is damage to it and areas around it," he told AFP.
Security officials in North Sinai said militants first fired rockets at the headquarters, which was followed by a car bomb attack, leaving five soldiers dead and wounding another 22 security personnel and two civilians.
Minutes later a barrage of rockets struck a nearby complex that houses police and army officers.
In a separate attack in the town of Rafah, which borders the Palestinian Gaza Strip, a rocket attack killed one soldier and wounded six others, security officials said.
Source: AFP