CAIRO, March 9  -- A bomb on Monday killed three military personnel, including an officer, in Egypt's restive North Sinai, a security source said.

The bomb hit an army vehicle en route to the city of Sheikh Zuweid, leaving two other soldiers seriously injured, the source told Xinhua on condition of anonymity.

North Sinai is the epicenter of an Islamist insurgency that has killed hundreds of police and soldiers since Islamist President Mohamed Morsi was ousted by the military in July 2013 after mass protests against his rule.

Al-Qaida-inspired Ansar Beit al-Maqdis group in Sinai, an Egyptian affiliate of Islamic State (IS), claimed responsibility for most of the attacks.

The Egyptian military said on Sunday that 70 militants were killed in airstrikes and security raids in the Sinai peninsula last week.