Latest NEWS
- Aswat Masriya, the last word
- Roundup of Egypt's press headlines on March 15, 2017
- Roundup of Egypt's press headlines on March 14, 2017
- Former Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak to be released: lawyer
- Roundup of Egypt's press headlines on March 13, 2017
- Egypt's capital set to grow by half a million in 2017
- Egypt's wheat reserves to double with start of harvest -supply min
- Roundup of Egypt's press headlines on March 12, 2017
Two attackers killed in foiled attempt to blast Sinai police station – security sources
Soldiers in a convoy secure a military funeral ceremony of security personnel killed in attacks in Sinai, outside Almaza military airbase where the funerals were held, in Cairo, January 30, 2015. REUTERS/Asmaa Waguih
CAIRO, Feb 14 (Aswat Masriya) – Two militants were killed in North Sinai while driving cars loaded with explosives after security forces fired at the cars, causing them to explode on Saturday morning, security sources said.
The two cars were on a road leading to a police station in North Sinai's Sheikh Zuweid. Attackers driving two other cars managed to flee the scene in the direction of Rafah.
The Interior Ministry said in a statement in the afternoon that the attack was planned to be a "suicide operation", adding that it was thwarted in a joint effort between police and military forces.
The incident took place at 7:00 am and involved two pick-up trucks, the ministry said.
It added that the car explosions injured an officer and a conscript with shrapnel wounds and cuts.
Sources earlier told Aswat Masriya the militants at first fired a rocket propelled grenade at the police station, leaving six injured, including two security personnel. Security forces responded by shooting at the cars.
Experts from the Forensic Authority arrived at the scene to inspect it and collect DNA samples from the deceased attackers in order to identify them.
Security presence in the vicinity of the police station has been reinforced and security forces are combing the area to track the attackers who managed to escape.
In a separate attack today, a soldier was injured and taken to a hospital, after armed assailants shot him in the head, state-run news agency MENA cited security sources as saying. The 24-year-old soldier was attacked while standing at a security site in central Sinai.
Militancy has surged in Egypt since July 2013, with the Sinai Peninsula being the most heavily affected part of the country, although attacks have taken place in other parts including Cairo.
At least 30 people were killed and 50 others were injured on January 29 in four separate attacks against security installations in North Sinai.
The attack last month is the deadliest since a similar attack on the Peninsula last October, which left over 30 military personnel dead.
