Roadside bomb kills 2 police in Sinai, wounds 3

Explosive device hits armored car in latest attack of conflict between Egyptian government and extremists

By AFP 9 August 2015, 5:18 pm 0 Edit

Smoke rises following an explosion in Egypt's northern Sinai Peninsula, as seen from the Israel-Egypt border, near Kerem Shalom in southern Israel, July 1, 2015. (AP/Ariel Schalit)

A roadside bomb killed an Egyptian police captain and a conscript Sunday in North Sinai, where security forces are fighting an Islamist insurgency, the Interior Ministry said.

North Sinai is a bastion of the Egyptian affiliate of the jihadist Islamic State group, which is spearheading an insurgency that has swelled since the army’s ousting of Islamist president Mohammed Morsi in July 2013.

Sunday’s attack occurred in North Sinai’s provincial capital el-Arish, the ministry said in a statement.

The two policemen were killed when the blast struck their passing armored vehicle. Three others were wounded in the explosion, which was activated by remote control, police said.

In the previous 24 hours, the army had detonated nine explosives found on a road frequently used by troops in North Sinai, police said.

Formerly known as Ansar Bayt al-Maqdis, the key jihadist group in the region changed its name to “Sinai Province” when it pledged allegiance to IS in November.

On July 1, the group staged a series of attacks on security forces in the North Sinai town of Sheikh Zuweid that the military said killed 21 soldiers.

The jihadists say their attacks are in response to a crackdown by the authorities after the army’s coup, which has seen at least 1,400 people killed and thousands jailed.