Egyptian soldier killed in Sinai bombing

SINAI, Egypt — An Egyptian soldier was killed Wednesday when a roadside bomb targeted an armored vehicle in the restive Sinai Peninsula, medical and security officials said.

Four soldiers were also wounded in the attack near the north Sinai capital of El-Arish, the officials said.

Security forces are struggling to quell an Islamist insurgency that has killed scores of soldiers and policemen in the peninsula bordering Israel and the Palestinian Gaza Strip.

The attacks surged after the military overthrew Islamist president Mohammed Morsi last year, and the militants extended their reach to the Egyptian mainland with a series of bombings.

Demonstrations and small bombings marked the anniversary last week of Morsi’s ouster and authorities responded by arresting nearly 200 people as part of their crackdown against Islamists.

Officials reported three separate bombings damaged police stations but caused no casualties in Cairo’s densely populated Imbaba district.

Another bombs went off accidentally inside an apartment outside Cairo, killing two suspected militants who were handling the explosives, the Interior Ministry said.