Six Egyptian soldiers have been killed by gunmen at a checkpoint in the northern Cairo suburb of Shubra al-Khayma, state media reports, according to BBC News

A security official said two bombs left behind by the attackers had been defused. The violence comes two days after another soldier was shot dead in an attack on an army bus in eastern Cairo.

There has been an upsurge in violence since the overthrow of Islamist President Mohammed Morsi last July.

The military has accused Morsi's Muslim Brotherhood of carrying out this latest and previous attacks. The Brotherhood denies involvement.

It was designated a terrorist group in December and thousands of its members have been put on trial.

A series of high-profile attacks on security forces in Cairo and the Sinai peninsula have been claimed by another group, Ansar Beit al-Maqdis, which it says are in revenge for the military-backed government's repression of Morsi's supporters.

Morsi, elected in 2012 following the overthrow of veteran ruler Hosni Mubarak, was ousted by the military amid huge streets protests against him, after a year in power marred by deep political and social divisions.