An Egyptian military vehicle is seen on the highway in northern Sinai, Egypt in this May 25, 2015 file photo (Photo: Reuters)
Egypt's armed forces denied on Wednesday the veracity of claims by an Islamic-state affiliated group that it had successfully bombed a military base on the Katameya-Suez road.
The Sinai Province group, which pledged allegiance to the Islamic State last November, claimed the attack on Twitter and said that it killed a number of military personnel early on Wednesday.
The statement added that the attack was carried out by a suicide bomber identified as "Abu Degana."
An Egyptian army spokesman said the attack began at 5:00 am. Officers shot a white Toyota vehicle after its attempt to get through the security pivot, resulting in the death of the driver and the explosion of the car, without any resulting causalities among security personnel.
Initial investigations showed that at least half a tonnne of TNT explosives were used in the blast. They also revealed the remains of the driver.
The Egyptian army also said they received intelligence information that the group was planning to carry out terrorist attacks around the dates of Eid Al-Fitr, a Muslim religious feast.
"Military operations have been ongoing on since then in response to deadly militant ambushes," the statement read, referring to recent attacks on several checkpoints in North Sinai which left 21 soldiers dead, according to the army.
Sinai Province has claimed responsibility for several of the terror attacks to hit Egypt since Morsi's ouster in July 2013, including the bombing of Cairo's security directorate in January 2014.
Egypt’s army spokesman Mohamed Samir announced on Sunday that the army had killed 252 alleged militants during raids in North Sinai between 1 and 11 July.
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