Egypt's military said two soldiers and six jihadists were killed in a "foiled" suicide bombing in Sinai on Wednesday, days after the Islamic State group staged a large scale attack in the peninsula.

The bomber had taken advantage of a fog to creep up on an army "installation" when troops spotted and killed him, the military said in a statement.

The Islamic State group also claimed Wednesday's attack in a statement on its propaganda agency Amaq.

The military said five other jihadists were killed in ensuing clashes, which followed a police convoy bombing in Sinai on Monday claimed by IS that killed 18 people.

Monday's attack was one of the deadliest in a jihadist insurgency in the peninsula that has killed hundreds of troops and policemen.

While based in North Sinai, the IS affiliate in Egypt has carried out attacks elsewhere including in Cairo, and it has claimed attacks that have killed more than 100 Coptic Christians since December.

Source: AFP