Egypt attacks in Sinai leave four security forces dead

Cairo, Feb 1: Two Egyptian policemen and two soldiers were killed in two bombing attacks in the country's restive Sinai Peninsula, where Islamic State (IS) jihadists have regularly attacked security forces.

In one attack at dawn yesterday, a remotely-detonated bomb hit a police vehicle as security forces were carrying out a search operation in the Rafah region, on the border with the Gaza Strip, killing two policemen, officials said.

An army officer and a soldier were also killed in a similar attack yesterday in the Sheikh Zuwaid region of northern Sinai, the officials added. There was no immediate claim of responsibility but the region is an IS stronghold. Jihadists have regularly attacked security forces in the peninsula since the army ousted Islamist president Mohamed Morsi in July 2013.

They say their attacks are in retaliation for a government crackdown targeting Morsi supporters that has left hundreds dead and thousands imprisoned. The authorities say hundreds of policemen and soldiers have been killed in attacks, mainly in North Sinai, since 2013. Egypt's branch of IS also said it planted a bomb that caused the crash of a Russian airliner in the Sinai in October, killing all 224 people on board.

AFP