Asia

Asia

Twin blasts rock Egypt's Sinai, no casualties

05 November 2014 02:43 (UTC +04:00)

Baku-APA. Twin blasts rocked the area near North Sinai Governorate building in Arish city on Tuesday evening and the security forces are currently investigating the reasons, a security source told Xinhua, APA reports.

"The explosion sound resulted from twin blasts, one of which was near a zoo opposite to Arish Museum, 500 meters from the governorate building, while the other fell at a deserted place," the source said, noting the blasts left no casualties.

The authorities swiftly intensified security in the area that is currently being combed during the curfew hours.

Official MENA news agency quoted a security source as saying that the twin blasts were caused by two mortar shells.

The accident comes a few days after a blast targeted a big military checkpoint nearby Sheikh Zuweid city in late October leaving some 30 soldiers killed and tens of others injured. Egypt announced a three-month curfew and state of emergency in some parts of North Sinai in reaction to the attack.

On October 31, a blast targeting a military armored vehicle left at least seven Egyptian military men seriously injured.

Meanwhile, the Egyptian authorities have been evacuating hundreds of houses in North Sinai located alongside the 13-km border line with the Palestinian Gaza Strip to create a buffer zone as part of the country's "anti-terrorism war."

Egypt has been facing a rising wave of terrorism since the overthrow of former Islamist President Mohamed Morsi by the military in July 2013 and the following crackdown on his supporters that left about 1,000 killed and thousands more arrested.

Anti-government attacks extended from the Sinai Peninsula to reach the capital Cairo and other provinces across the country. Sinai-based, al-Qaida-inspired Ansar Bayt al-Maqdis and its fellow Ajnad Misr groups claimed responsibility for most of the attacks.