Sinai blast toll in Egypt reaches 30

Cairo: The soldiers' death toll has risen to 30 in the car bomb blast that targeted a security checkpoint in Egypt's North Sinai province Friday, with 28 injured, a security source said.

"The blast targeted the military checkpoint of Karm al-Qawadis in Sheikh Zuweid, as a suicide bomber drove a car with more than five tonnes of explosives into the checkpoint," the source said, suspecting that the attacker belongs to the Sinai-based Al Qaeda- inspired group Ansar Bayt al-Maqdis, or Champions of Jerusalem, that has claimed responsibility for several previous attacks, Xinhua reported.

President Abdel-Fattah al-Sisi has ordered the national defence council to convene for an emergency meeting to discuss the situation in Sinai.

Sisi presided the meeting that was participated by the prime minister, the ministers of defence, interior and finance, as well as the military chief of staff and other senior officials, state media reported.

There was no immediate claim of responsibility for the attack.