Egyptian security and hospital officials say a roadside bomb planted by Islamic militants in the Sinai Peninsula has hit a military vehicle, killing a senior army officer.
They say the colonel, who was the military commander of the town of Bir al-Abd, was killed while patrolling in an armoured vehicle in an area just outside the town.
Bir al-Abd was the scene of deadliest terrorist attack against civilians on November 24, when militants killed 311 worshippers in a mosque.
Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi has vowed to use "brute force" to crush the long-running insurgency in northern Sinai and given the military and police three months to restore "security and stability" there.