Egyptian soldier killed, 5 injured in Sinai bomb blast

By Khaled al-Joushi

CAIRO (AA) – One soldier was killed and another five injured by a bomb blast in Egypt’s volatile Sinai Peninsula on Friday, according to a local security source.

The source, who spoke to Anadolu Agency anonymously due to restrictions on speaking to media, said an explosive device was detonated at the entrance of Al-Arish city in the peninsula’s northeast.

The source added that the five injured soldiers had been rushed to a military hospital in the city where they were in critical condition.

No group has yet claimed responsibility for Friday’s attack.

Since mid-2013, when Mohamed Morsi -- Egypt’s first democratically-elected president -- was ousted in a military coup, hundreds of Egyptian security personnel have been killed in Sinai amid an ongoing, low-intensity militant insurgency.

Egyptian security forces, for their part, have continued to wage a fierce campaign in the peninsula -- involving both the police and the army -- against what they describe as Sinai-based "terrorist groups".

Egypt’s army-backed authorities say they are battling the Welayat Sinai ("Sinai Province") group, which is said to have sworn allegiance to the Daesh terrorist organization.