OCCUPIED JERUSALEM: Assailants on the Egyptian side of the border with Israel opened fire at a bus carrying Israeli soldiers on Sunday, causing no casualties but damaging the vehicle, a military spokeswoman said.

"Fire was opened at an Israeli army bus carrying soldiers," she told AFP. "Nobody was injured but damage was caused to the bus."

According to the spokeswoman, the attack took place on the "central-southern part" of Israel's 240-kilometre (150-mile) border with Egypt's Sinai Peninsula. She had no immediate details on the weapons used.

On July 13, Israeli border police killed one man and wounded another when the pair tried to cross the Egyptian border into Israel.

Border security incidents have increased over the past year, with an increase in lawlessness since the overthrow of Egyptian president Hosni Mubarak in February 2011.

Israel has accused Gaza-based militants of infiltrating its border with Egypt to perpetrate attacks, such as one in August 2011 in which gunmen launched coordinated ambushes in southern Israel, killing eight people.

Last month, at least three militants sneaked across the border and ambushed two cars carrying Israeli construction workers, killing one and sparking a firefight in which two of the gunmen died.

Israel has speeded up work on a massive steel barrier along its border with the Sinai.