Egypt police station suicide attack kills eight in Sinai Published duration 9 January 2017

image copyright AFP image caption Security forces are often attacked in North Sinai

At least eight people have been killed in a suicide bomb attack on a police station in North Sinai, Egypt.

Reports say the bomber rammed the building in el-Arish with a lorry filled with explosives.

Militants then opened fire on the station.

No group has yet taken responsibility for the attack, but the area is often targeted by Islamists that have links with the so-called Islamic State (IS) group.

Islamist groups are thought to have carried out more than 400 attacks in the North Sinai region between 2012 and 2015.

The Sinai Province jihadist group , the most active insurgents, swore an oath of loyalty to IS in November 2014.

The group was initially called Ansar Beit al-Maqdis (Supporters of Jerusalem), and has been active in the Sinai Peninsula since 2011.

It has an estimated 1,000 to 1,500 active members.