Clashes are underway in the area of the city of Rafah, on the border with Gaza, while strong explosions can be heard.

There have been no immediate reports of casualties.

A military garrison in the nearby town of El Arish has been attacked and militants had to flee after a fifteen-minute shootout.

In the small hours of Friday armed extremists supporting ousted President Mohamed Morsi mounted several attacks on military facilities in the north of the Sinai Peninsula. One serviceman was killed. Later in the day five police were shot dead in El Arish and about 20 others injured.

In the wake of the attacks the armed forces’ command alerted all units in the Sinai Peninsula and in Suez, in the northeast of the country. The military declared Sinai “a zone of war on terror.”