2 dead as Egypt foils attack on Sinai checkpoint

The interior ministry said one of the men was wearing an explosive belt

Egyptian President Abdel Fattah Al-Sisi stands in front of an Egyptian flag as various Egyptian and French ministers sign cooperation agreements at the presidential palace in Cairo on January 28, 2019. Sis and his French counterpart Emmanuel Macron oversaw the signing of around 30 deals between Egypt and France worth several hundred million euros (dollars). / AFP / Ludovic MARIN
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Egyptian security forces foiled an attack Friday on a checkpoint in the south Sinai resort region, shooting dead two attackers, one of whom wore an explosive belt, the interior ministry said.

"Security forces prevented the attack exchanging gunfire ... which led to the deaths of two perpetrators" at the checkpoint in Oyoun Moussa, reads a ministry statement.

"One of them wore an explosive belt with the intention to target the checkpoint ... bomb experts defused the device," it added.

Egyptian security forces have been targeted by extremist groups since the army overthrew president Mohamed Morsi in 2013.

Most insurgent attacks have been concentrated in the restive northern province of the Sinai, to the east of the country.

In contrast, southern Sinai, the site of Friday's thwarted attack, is a major tourist hub boasting several resort towns by the Red Sea.

In February last year Egypt launched a large-scale military operation against ISIS in the Sinai Peninsula.

Around 600 suspected extremists and about 40 soldiers have been killed so far, according to official figures.

Friday's attack came days after a teen suicide bomber killed four Egyptian security forces in North Sinai.