News / Egypt

Roadside bomb leaves two Egyptian policemen dead in Sinai

Sunday, 31 January 2016 9:57 AM [ Last Update: Sunday, 31 January 2016 9:57 AM ]

Members of the Egyptian police special forces stand guard in Cairo on January 25, 2016. ©AFP

At least two Egyptian police officers have lost their lives and four others sustained injuries in a bomb explosion that destroyed their vehicle in the country’s restive Sinai Peninsula.

A security source, speaking on condition of anonymity, said an explosive device targeted the policemen’s patrol car south of the border town of Rafah, located 340 kilometers (211 miles) east of the capital, Cairo, on Sunday, Lebanon-based al-Mayadeen news network reported.

No individual or group has claimed responsibility for the act of violence yet. Security forces have launched an investigation into the attack.

The development came only three days after at least four children were killed and eight others wounded when Egyptian army troops clashed with Takfiri militants in Sinai.

On January 27, five members of Egypt’s security forces were killed when a powerful explosion ripped through their car in al-Maidan area west of the city of el-Arish, situated 344 kilometers (214 miles) northeast of the capital.

At least eight policemen, including three senior officers, were also killed in two separate incidents in the embattled Sinai Peninsula on January 21.

The Egyptian military has been engaged in operations to quell acts of terrorism and militancy in the Sinai Peninsula. It views the volatile region as a sanctuary for extremists, who use it as a safe haven.

The militant group Velayat Sinai, previously known as Ansar Bait al-Maqdis, has claimed responsibility for most of the attacks in Sinai.

Last November, the group pledged allegiance to Daesh Takfiri terrorist group, which is mainly operating in Iraq and neighboring Syria.

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