Soldier killed, another wounded in Sheikh Zuweid blast - security sources

Thursday 16-04-2015 11:56 AM
Soldier killed, another wounded in Sheikh Zuweid blast - security sources

Smoke rises as a house is blown up during a military operation by Egyptian security forces in the Egyptian city of Rafah, near the border with southern Gaza Strip November 3, 2014. REUTERS/Ibraheem Abu Mustafa

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NORTH SINAI, Apr 16 (Aswat Masriya) - A military armoured vehicle exploded in North Sinai's Sheikh Zuweid on Thursday, killing one soldier and injuring another, security sources said.

Unidentified assailants planted an explosive device on a road south of Sheikh Zuweid when army personnel were passing, the sources said.

The injured conscript was transferred to the al-Arish Military Hospital for treatment.

Militancy inside Egypt has seen a significant rise since July 2013, with the military ouster of Islamist President Mohamed Mursi, following mass protests against his rule. Most attacks target security forces in North Sinai.

Thirteen people were killed in two separate attacks in North Sinai on Sunday, including security personnel from the police and the military.

Sinai-based Ansar Bayt al-Maqdis, Egypt's most active militant group, claimed responsibility for both attacks on a twitter account believed to belong to the group.

Ansar has claimed responsibility for most militant attacks carried out in the governorate since 2013. The group pledged allegiance to Islamic State fighters in Iraq and Syria last November, renaming itself as the "Sinai Province". 

Security forces killed over 300 suspected militants in security campaigns in North Sinai during the months of February and March, the armed forces spokesman announced in a number of separate statements.

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