Gunmen have killed two Egyptian troops and injured another in a drive-by shooting on a military base near Nile Delta, a security official has said.

The attack on the facility, located on the road between the Suez Canal city of Ismailia Ismailia and the city of Zagazig, occurred on Sunday, Reuters reported.

No group has yet claimed responsibility for the deadly assault.

However, officials say it bore the hallmarks of militant groups who have stepped up attacks on soldiers and policemen since the army toppled former president, Mohamed Morsi, in July.

Most of their attacks have been carried out in the volatile Sinai region, although gunmen have also struck in towns and cities to the west of Sinai in the Suez Canal area and the Nile Valley.

The Sinai Peninsula has long been considered a safe haven for militants and criminal gangs who use the region as a base for terror activities.

Egypt has plunged into an unrelenting string of violence since General Abdel Fattah al-Sisi, the head of the Egyptian army pushed aside Morsi and declared chief Justice of Egypt’s Supreme Constitutional Court, Adly Mansour, as the interim president.

Egypt’s military-backed interim government has launched a bloody crackdown on Morsi supporters and arrested more than 2,000 Brotherhood members, including the party’s leader, Mohamed Badie, who was detained on August 20.

About 1,000 people were killed in a week of violence between Morsi supporters and security forces after police dispersed their protest camps in a deadly operation on August 14.

The massacre sparked international condemnation and prompted world bodies to call for an independent investigation into the violence.