1 civilian killed, 24 policemen injured in North Sinai blast

At least one Egyptian civilian has been killed and 24 policemen have been injured in a massive explosion in the restive Sinai Peninsula, security sources say.

The attack took place when a bomber rammed a vehicle packed with explosives into a police station in the North Sinai provincial capital of el-Arish early Tuesday.

“The bomber drove a water tanker filled with explosives into the rear gate of the base,” a security official said, AFP reported.

“As the vehicle approached, police fired on it, detonating the explosives inside,” the official added.

There was no immediate claim of responsibility, but the Takfiri militant group calling itself Ansar Bait al-Maqdis has claimed responsibility for most of the attacks in the region. The group has recently pledged allegiance to the ISIL Takfiri terrorist group and changed its name to Velayat Sinai.

The attack came a day after at least three Egyptian soldiers have been killed and three others critically wounded in a roadside bomb attack on their vehicle in Sinai.

Army spokesman, Brigadier General Mohamed Samir, said Egyptian government forces killed 70 militants and arrested 118 others during separate aerial attacks and security raids in Sinai over the past week.

The militants were killed during operations in the city of el-Arish, situated 344 kilometers (214 miles) northeast of the capital, Cairo, and in the border town of Rafah as well as the town of Sheikh Zuweid, situated 334 kilometers (214 miles) northeast of Cairo.

A state of emergency has been declared in the northern part of the Sinai Peninsula since a militant attack on an Egyptian army checkpoint killed more than 30 soldiers in October 2014.

The Egyptian military considers the Sinai Peninsula a safe haven for gunmen, who use the region as a base for their “acts of terror.”

Since the ouster of former president, Mohamed Morsi, in July 2013, gunmen have launched terrorist attacks in Sinai, killing Egyptian security forces.