At least ten dead after militants attack Egypt's Sinai peninsula

At least ten soldiers have been killed and injured in a wave of attacks by suspected jihadist militants in Egypt's Sinai peninsula, the military says.

More than 70 "terrorists" launched assaults on five different checkpoints near Sheikh Zuweid, a statement said.

Twenty-three attackers were killed and three pick-up trucks armed with anti-aircraft guns were destroyed, it added.

Initial reports said as many as 30 soldiers were killed, but they could not be independently verified.

The attacks come two days after the assassination of Egypt's public prosecutor in the capital, Cairo.

In a speech at the funeral of Hisham Barakat on Tuesday, President Abdul Fattah al-Sisi promised to enact legal reforms to ensure death sentences could be enforced more swiftly for those convicted of acts of terrorism.