Twenty-eight soldiers were killed – according to the lastest figures reported by local satellite channel CBC – and another 30 injured when a car bomb exploded at the Karm Alkwadis security checkpoint in Sheikh Zuweid.
Just hours later three security personal died when militants opened fire at a checkpoint in nearby Al-Arish.
The attack in Sheikh Zuweid is the deadliest the region has seen in more than two years of heightened unrest.
There was no immediate claim of responsibility for the attacks. Ansar Beit Al-Maqdis, an Al-Qaeda-inspired Islamist militant group, has previously claimed responsibility for similar attacks in Sinai and in Egypt's mainland.
The injured were transferred to the military and general hospitals in Al-Arish, the biggest city in North Sinai.
Medical teams were sent to Al-Arish military hospital, said Health Minister Adel El-Adawi. Al-Arish general hospital called on local residents to donate blood.
President Abdel-Fattah El-Sisi has declared three days of national mourning after at least 31 members of the security forces were killed in two separate attacks in North Sinai on Friday.
El-Sisi convened the National Defence Council on Friday evening to discuss the latest developments in Sinai, a presidential spokesperson said.
The council is made up of cabinet ministers, commanders of the armed forces, and is chaired by the president.
State Department spokesperson Jen Psaki said the United States condemns the attack and “continues to support the Egyptian government’s efforts to counter the threat of terrorism in Egypt as part of our commitment to the strategic partnership between our two countries.”
Over 40 security personnel have been killed in attacks in the Sinai Peninsula this week, including the two attacks on Friday.
A militant insurgency by jihadist groups in the peninsula has become more active since the ouster of Islamist president Mohamed Morsi in 2013. Hundreds of police and soldiers, as well as militants, have been killed.
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