Cairo, Nov 13 (IANS/EFE): Eight Egyptian military personnel were missing and five others wounded in an attack on an Egyptian Navy vessel by gunmen in the Mediterranean Sea, Egyptian military spokesman Mohammed Samir said Thursday.

In a statement, Samir described the incident which occurred Wednesday as a "terrorist attack", adding that the security forces had arrested 32 suspects believed linked to the incident.

Samir also explained that the naval forces destroyed four boats from which the attackers assaulted the navy vessel.

The five Egyptian military personnel were rescued after the attack and taken to army hospitals.

Searchers were combing the sea where the attack tool place for those missing.

According to the state news agency MENA, the assailants opened fire from several points at the navy vessel north of the port of Damietta, about 200 km north of Cairo, setting it afire.

Egyptian military authorities sent Special Forces troops to assist the crew in fighting off the attack.