7 civilians killed in terror explosion in Egypt's North Sinai

Seven Egyptian civilians were killed on Monday when a car bomb went off near a military checkpoint in the country's North Sinai province, the military said.


The terrorists planned to explode the car at a crowded checkpoint in Arish city, but a military tank ran over the booby-trapped vehicle 200 meters before it reached the checkpoint, a military spokesman said.

• Two children and two women were among the victims, the spokesman said, adding that the attack would have killed at least 50 military personnel and civilians if the terrorists managed to reach the checkpoint. 

Egypt has been battling growing terror activities following the military's removal of former Islamist president Mohamed Morsi in July 2013 in response to mass protests against his one-year rule and his currently-blacklisted group Muslim Brotherhood.

Terror attacks had been centered in the restive North Sinai province before they spread nationwide, killing hundreds of policemen and soldiers over the past few years.

Most of the anti-government terrorist operations were claimed by a Sinai-based group loyal to the regional Islamic State (IS) militant group.

The Egyptian military, in cooperation with the police, has killed hundreds of militants and arrested a similar number of suspects as part of the country's anti-terror war declared in 2013 by President Abdel-Fattah al-Sisi, who was then the army chief, following Morsi's removal.

   [globaltimes.cn/china.org.cn/Xinhua]

25/7/17