CAIRO: A car bomb in Egypt's restive Sinai killed 11 soldiers Wednesday, while another blast struck police in Cairo.
The troops died when an explosives-laden car blew up next to an army bus in North Sinai's provincial capital El-Arish, a security official said. The army confirmed the attack, saying nine conscripts and two non-commissioned officers died.
In northern Cairo, assailants hurled an explosive device at a checkpoint, wounding four policemen, including a major hit in the face and back by shrapnel, security sources said.
The Sinai bombing, which also wounded 34 soldiers, was the deadliest in the region bordering Gaza and Israel since an August 19 ambush on a convoy of security forces that killed 25 policemen in the North Sinai town of Rafah.
Army chief General Abdel Fattah al-Sisi attended the slain soldiers' funeral at a military air base in Cairo.
"This matter will only increase our determination," he said in televised comments afterwards.
On September 5, a car bomb targeted Interior Minister Mohamed Ibrahim in Cairo.
That was claimed by a group called Ansar Beit al-Maqdis based in the Sinai that said Tuesday it was also responsible for Sunday's assassination of police Lieutenant Colonel Mohamed Mabruk, who was involved in an ongoing crackdown on Islamists.
Ansar Beit al-Maqdis said the attack on Mabruk was the first in a "series of operations."
A video uploaded on YouTube also showed the group claiming an October 10 attack south of El-Arish that killed four soldiers and a policeman.
Interim president Adly Mansour denounced the latest Sinai bombing as "a terrorist attack," while the military said it was chasing the perpetrators who fled towards the town of Sheikh Zuwayed.
Egypt has been plagued by unrest since the army stepped in to remove Mursi amid massive protests against the turbulent one-year rule of the country's first freely elected president.
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