CAIRO

The Egyptian military on Thursday foiled a suicide attack targeting security forces in the North Sinai province.

"The armed forces managed to thwart a suicide attack by a terrorist this morning," the Egyptian army said in a statement.

The attack took place next to a parking lot in the town of Sheikh Zuweid near a security installation.

As a result of the operation, one soldier was killed and a "terrorist" died when his explosive vest went off, failing to reach the security facility.

The Sinai Peninsula has remained the epicenter of a militant insurgency since 2013, when the army ousted Mohamed Morsi -- Egypt's first freely elected president and a Muslim Brotherhood leader -- in a military coup.

Last month Morsi died of an apparent heart attack after collapsing in a courtroom in the middle of a trial on "espionage" charges.