Two suicide bombings in north Sinai

CAIRO, Apr 26: Two men blew themselves up in Egypt's north Sinai today, one near an airport used by an international observer force, security sources said.

A spokesman for the Multinational Force and Observers (MFO), Normand St. Pierre, said the first bomber appeared to target MFO vehicles but there were no MFO injuries. Egyptian security sources had earlier said two MFO members had been hurt.

The second man blew himself up next to a police car outside a police station in Sheikh Zuwayed, near the northern coast town of El Arish. The car was empty and there were no other casualties, the security sources said.

On Monday, three bombs in the resort of Dahab on the east coast of Sinai killed 18 people and injured scores.

The Dahab explosions resembled other attacks attributed to a Sinai-based group which has carried out bomb attacks in two other resorts on the east coast after the last two years.

The same group is thought to have carried out a bombing that damaged a multinational observer force vehicle in Sinai last August, slightly injuring two female Canadians.

The first suicide bombing today was near the MFO camp at El Gorah, about 35 km from El Arish, close to the site of the attack in August.

REUTERS