Roadside bomb kills 3 policemen in Egypt’s Sinai

Northern Sinai has long been home to an insurgency by terrorists, now led by a local affiliate of the Islamic State group

By AP 25 March 2017, 6:12 pm Edit

Illustrative: This photo posted on a file sharing website Wednesday, Jan. 11, 2017, by the Islamic State Group in Sinai, shows a deadly attack by terrorists on an Egyptian police checkpoint, Monday, Jan. 9, 2017, in el-Arish, north Sinai, Egypt. (Islamic State Group in Sinai, via AP)

EL-ARISH, Egypt — Egyptian security officials said Saturday that a roadside bomb planted by suspected Islamic militants has hit a police armored vehicle in the north of the Sinai Peninsula, killing three members of the security forces.

The blast south of the city of el-Arish injured six other policemen, they said.

The officials spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to brief reporters.

The attack came two days after militants killed 10 army soldiers and two policemen in Sinai.

Northern Sinai, which borders Israel and the Gaza Strip, has long been home to an insurgency by militants, now led by a local affiliate of the Islamic State group.

The insurgency expanded and grew deadlier after the 2013 ouster of an Islamist president whose one year in office proved divisive.