Bomb explodes in military-used house in Sinai, no injuries

Ahram Online , Sunday 11 Jan 2015

The five-floor house on the border of Sinai's Rafah city was being used in military operations against militant jihadist groups; no injuries or deaths reported

Sinai
Egyptian soldiers in a Sinai camp (Photo:Reuters)

Unidentified assailants detonated a bomb inside a five-floor house on the border of Sinai's Rafah city Sunday with no injuries or deaths reported, a security source told Aswat Masriya.

The house was being used by Egypt's military to monitor terrorist groups, including the Sinai-based Ansar Beit Al-Maqdis group that has claimed responsibility for several deadly attacks inside and outside the peninsula, according to the security souce.

The Egyptian military has been combating a decade-long jihadist insurgency in Sinai, with attacks increasing over the past year.

Hundreds of soldiers and police have been killed, while the army says it has killed and arrested hundreds of jihadists. Civilians have also been caught in the violence.

In October, Egypt announced a three-month state of emergency in Sinai and a curfew from 5pm to 7am in parts of the governorate.

Earlier in November, Ansar Beit Al-Maqdis swore allegiance to the jihadist Islamic State, which has seized large swathes of Syria and Iraq in recent months.

Authorities began demolishing houses and clearing residents along the Egyptian border with Gaza, to set a buffer zone in order to better fight the militant insurgency following a deadly attack by militants that killed 30 soldiers on 24 October.

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