Blast hits mosque in Egypt’s Sinai; at least 75 injured

CAIRO (AA) - An explosion outside a mosque during Friday prayers in Egypt’s northern Sinai Peninsula has injured at least 75 people, according to local medical and security sources.

“The explosion, which occurred near the Al-Rawdah Mosque in the city of Al-Arish, resulted in the injury of about 75 people,” Khaled Mujahid a Health Ministry spokesman, said in a televised statement.

The blast had not resulted in any deaths, he said, adding and that injured persons had been taken to the nearby Bir al-Abd Hospital for treatment.

The Sinai Peninsula has been the epicenter of a low-intensity militant insurgency since mid-2013, when the army ousted and imprisoned Mohamed Morsi, Egypt’s first freely elected president, in a bloody military coup.

The insurgency has been largely confined to the northern Sinai Peninsula, but sporadic attacks have also occurred on the mainland, including capital Cairo.