Five of the wounded in the attack in the city of el-Arish were civilians and five were police, state news agency MENA reported, citing an unnamed Interior Ministry source.
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Four policemen were killed Wednesday in a suicide bombing in Egypt’s volatile Sinai Peninsula, a medical and security source said. The group has killed hundreds of Egyptian soldiers and police since the Egyptian army overthrew the Islamist president, Mohamed Mursi, in 2013, following mass protests against his rule.
No one has claimed responsibility for the blast but the Islamic State’s Egypt affiliate has carried out such attacks in the region.
But the attacks around El-Arish suggest the militants are still capable of continuing their deadly insurgency. It said the bomber, Abu Aisha el-Masry, killed “dozens” at the officers’ club. CNN could not immediately verify this claim.
Casualty figures are hard to track in the area, where reporting by journalists is highly restricted. The cause is under investigation.
The group has deployed shoulder fired anti-aircraft missiles in the past but they are not known to possess weapons that could bring down an airliner flying at high altitude.
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In an interview with the BBC, Egyptian President Abdel-Fattah el-Sissi, who is expected in London on Thursday, said the Sinai “is under our full control”.
