Blast in Sinai kills at least 17 Egyptian soldiers

The death toll of the car bomb that targeted a security checkpoint on Friday in Egypt’s North Sinai province has increased to 17 soldiers, while 25 others were injured, a security source said, suggesting the toll is likely to increase.

“The blast targeted a military checkpoint of Karm al-Qawadis in Sheikh Zuweid, and it was carried out by Sinai militants,” the source said, referring to Sinai-based al-Qaida-inspired Ansar Bayt al-Maqdis group that claimed responsibility for several previous attacks.

Friday’s blast came a couple of days after ten people, including six policemen, were injured in a blast that targeted security men outside Cairo University in Giza.

Attacks on security men and premises have been growing since the ouster of former Islamist President Mohamed Morsi by the military in July 2013 and the massive security crackdown on his supporters, which left about 1,000 of them killed and thousands more arrested.

The attacks were based in the Sinai Peninsula and have extended later on to the capital Cairo and other provinces across the country.

Earlier on Sunday, seven soldiers were killed and four others injured in an explosion that targeted their vehicle in Arish city in North Sinai.

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