Egyptian security officials say a roadside bomb has targeted a pickup truck carrying members of the security forces in the turbulent north of the Sinai Peninsula, killing two.

The officials say the Sunday blast took place on a road just south of the coastal city of el-Arish. Five other members of the security forces and a civilian were wounded in the attack.

There was no immediate claim of responsibility for the attack, which bore the hallmarks of the extremist Islamic State group, now leading a long-running insurgency in Sinai.

The insurgency has expanded and become deadlier since the military's 2013 ouster of Mohammed Morsi, an Islamist president whose one-year rule proved divisive.