Bomb explosion kills 2 Egyptian soldiers in Sinai

At least two Egyptian soldiers have been killed and six others wounded in a roadside bomb attack in the North African country’s restive Sinai Peninsula, official sources say.

Egyptian military officials said on Tuesday that the explosion struck a passing armored vehicle as army forces patrolled an area near the northeastern Sinai village of el-Kharouba, close to the border with the besieged Gaza Strip.

Security sources say they have cordoned off the area and launched an investigation into the deadly incident.

The injured security personnel were rushed to a nearby hospital to receive necessary treatment.

There was no immediate claim of responsibility for the attack, but the assault bears the hallmarks of the those carried out by militants currently operating in the troubled region.

In a similar incident on March 9, at least three Egyptian soldiers were killed and three others critically wounded after gunmen remotely detonated a roadside bomb near a security checkpoint in Sheikh Zuweid city of the restive peninsula.

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

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.

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

Ansar Bait al-Maqdis has claimed responsibility for most of the attacks against Egyptian security forces in the region. The group has recently pledged allegiance to the Takfiri ISIL terrorist group and changed its name to Velayat Sinai.

The Egyptian security forces say they have killed more than 172 militants since February in recent operations.