CAIRO: A car bomb in Egypt's Sinai Peninsula killed 25 soldiers Friday, in one of the deadliest attacks against security forces since the military deposed president Mohamed Morsi last year.

Security officials said the attack took place near El-Arish, the main town in restive north Sinai, revising an earlier toll of 17 killed and 22 wounded.

President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi called for the National Defence Council to convene for an emergency meeting in response to what his office called “a terrorist attack”.

Militants in the Sinai have killed scores of policemen and soldiers since Morsi's overthrow to avenge a bloody police crackdown on his supporters.

Six soldiers were killed on Sunday by a roadside bomb southwest of al-Arish.

Egypt's military had made some progress in containing the Sinai-based insurgency but security officials have expressed concern that Islamic State militants who control parts of Iraq and Syria have forged ties with radical groups in Egypt.