Friday March 29th, 2024
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Jihadists Blamed For Sinai 'Bomb-Gone-Wrong'

Searches continue following a double attack on Sunday, in which seven civilians were killed by a bomb mistakenly placed near a supermarket in Al-Arish, followed by another nearby bomb that exploded immediately after, killing one security officer.

Staff Writer

Egyptian security forces were faced with a wall of silence today as they searched for the culprits behind a brutal twin rocket attack that killed eight people in Sinai on Sunday night. One Egyptian security officer and seven civilians were killed in two successive explosions in Egypt’s Sinai region late Sunday near the border with Israel, the interior ministry and security officials said.

The seven civilians were killed when a rocket targeting North Sinai’s main security compound instead fell in front of a crowded supermarket in Al-Arish. The military post is located near a compound of residential buildings in the al-Salam district. The Interior Ministry said 25 others were injured in the explosion.

The attack, thought to be a blunder by local Jihadists, will do little to win favour among locals already war-weary following a year of battles between the Egyptian military and local militant groups.

A second blast took place just moments later when two rockets hit a security unit in the same city, killing an officer and injuring seven others, medical sources said.

Security forces are still searching for information regarding the culprits. The attack comes just days after Ansar Bayt al-Maqdis distributed flyers inciting against Armed Forces and calling for support throughout several villages in the area. The flyers urged villagers to cooperate with the group, claiming ‘establishment of religion’. “If you were not with us, do not be against us,” the flyers read.

No group has yet claimed responsibility for the attacks.