At least 20 Egyptian officers injured in Sinai bomb attack
A bomb attack targeting the police in Egypt's restive Sinai Peninsula has injured 20 officers, officials say.
The blast happened on Thursday on the outskirts of Sinai's provincial capital of El-Arish located in the northeastern part of Egypt. The bomb targeted a bus carrying policemen who were on leave, medics and security officials told media.
The men have been taken to a nearby hospital and no further information was released to the public on the incident.
Security forces reportedly rushed to the area, and launched an investigation to determine the motive behind the act of violence.
Meanwhile, in a separate incident, police reported that, gunmen on a motorbike shot dead a police captain near his home in the Nile Delta town of Beni Sueif, south of the country’s capital, Cairo.
No person or group has claimed the attacks yet.
Sinai has become increasingly lawless since former Egyptian ruler Hosni Mubarak was overthrown in 2011. Insurgents have intensified attacks since his successor Mohamed Morsi, who came from the Muslim Brotherhood, was ousted by the military in 2013.
The Sinai Peninsula has been under a state of emergency and a curfew since October.
The Egyptian military considers the Sinai Peninsula a safe haven for gunmen, who use the region as a base for their “acts of terror.”
Ansar Bait al-Maqdis has claimed responsibility for most of the attacks in the region. The group has pledged allegiance to the ISIL terrorist group in November.
The group claims that it is seeking revenge for an ongoing police crackdown on Morsi supporters by the current military-backed President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi.
It has carried out numerous deadly attacks on the peninsula, killing hundreds of police officers, soldiers and civilians.
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