A suicide bomb attack has targeted the ancient Karnak temple in the southern Egyptian city of Luxor on Wednesday, officials have said.

A suicide bomb attack has targeted the ancient Karnak temple in the southern Egyptian city of Luxor on Wednesday, officials have said.

Egyptian police said they had foiled an attempted suicide bomb attack on one of the country's most popular tourist destinations in Luxor and killed two militants.

Police said one attacker detonated a bomb he was carrying and two other assailants died in a firefight close to the Karnak temple.  

A source in the interior ministry said that no tourists were hurt.

The Karnak complex is a vast open-air museum, and the second largest ancient religious site in the world, after the Angkor Wat Temple of Cambodia.

It is believed to be the second most visited historical site in Egypt with only the Giza Pyramids receiving more visits.

The attack comes a week after two police officers were shot dead by gunmen on a road leading to the Great Pyramids of Giza, just west of capital Cairo.