Debris is seen in a mosque damaged from assaults on militant targets by the Egyptian Army, in a village on the outskirts of Sheikh Zuweid, near the city of el-Arish in Egypt's Sinai Peninsula Sept. 10, 2013. (Reuters)
The Sinai-based Islamist militant group Ansar Bayt al-Maqdis has declared responsibility for an explosion that killed six Egyptian soldiers and wounded 17 others on Wednesday.
The explosion took place when a car bomb exploded at an intelligence facility in the restive peninsula.
“A large explosion” targeted the military intelligence headquarters in Rafah on the border with the Gaza Strip, a military official said.
Witnesses said the powerful blast shattered the windows of other buildings in the Imam Ali area in Rafah where the military building is located.
The Sinai, which borders Israel and the Gaza Strip, has seen a sharp rise in militant attacks since the army ousted Islamist president Mohammad Mursi in July, AFP reported.
While continuing assaults on militants in Sinai, Egyptian authorities on Monday announced a tightened grip on security in the restive peninsula.
The heightened security concerns came amid threats from an Islamist group, based in Sinai, which said it tried to kill the interior minister in Cairo last week, the state news agency reported on Monday.
On Saturday, the Egyptian military launched a major assault on militants in North Sinai, killing or wounding at least 30 people in clashes close to the Palestinian Gaza Strip.
(With Reuters and AFP)
