Egyptian security forces were searching on Saturday for two Sudanese men suspected of planning to attack tourist targets in the Sinai peninsula, and who might be carrying explosives in their truck, security sources said.

They said the police, who already run security checkpoints on Sinai's main roads, had set up additional roadblocks on tracks and back roads to search for the men, thought to have entered Egypt over its southern border with Sudan.

"The police distributed notices to security departments in Sinai and Suez Canal provinces describing a small truck suspected of carrying quantities of explosives," one security source said, speaking on condition of anonymity.

Police believed the two men were in the truck and were "resolved to carry out terror attacks against tourist establishments in Sinai," the source said.

Egyptian police were also searching all private cars in the border area between north and south Sinai, security sources said.

Islamist militants carried out major bomb attacks on tourist areas in Sinai between 2004 and 2006. Egypt blamed those attacks on a group of Bedouin with militant views, and there has been no evidence of foreign involvement.-Reuters