Roadside bomb kills two policemen in Egypt's Sinai

By Mahmoud Ghareb

CAIRO

Two policemen on Sunday were reportedly killed by a roadside bomb in Egypt's restive Sinai Peninsula, according to a local security source.

The bomb exploded near a police vehicle as it passed through the North Sinai city of Rafah, the source said.

"The blast killed two policemen and injured three others," the source told Anadolu Agency.

According to the same source, security forces have since cordoned off the area and launched a manhunt for the attackers.

No group has yet claimed responsibility for the attack, on which the Egyptian authorities have yet to issue a comment.

Since the ouster of Mohamed Morsi -- Egypt’s first freely elected president -- in a 2013 military coup, the northern Sinai Peninsula has remained the epicenter of a deadly insurgency against Egyptian security personnel.

Over the course of the last two years, the "Welayet Sinai" ("Province of Sinai") group -- said to be linked to the extremist Daesh organization -- has claimed responsibility for a spate of deadly attacks on Egyptian security forces deployed in the volatile region.