A suicide bomber killed two people in Egypt's restive North Sinai region on Thursday, a day after four headless bodies were found there.

The victims of the bombing were a civilian and a member of the security forces, security and medical sources said.

The bomber was shot before he reached a military checkpoint, his intended target, but his explosive belt detonated and killed the soldier and civilian, an Egyptian military spokesman said in a statement.

The Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL or ISIS) armed group claimed responsibility for the attack via its Amaq website, saying five members of the security forces were killed or wounded.

Multiple armed groups, some linked to ISIL, are active in the Sinai Peninsula and Egypt's army launched a major operation there in February last year.

Thursday's bombing took place at a car park in the town of Sheikh Zuweid, near the border with the Gaza Strip.

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Separately, two security sources said four headless bodies were found in an empty street in the North Sinai town of Bir al-Abd on Wednesday. Their families reported that the four men, aged 23 to 51, had been kidnapped.

Fighters stopped several cars before taking five people away and forcing them to lie down on the ground, a security source and three residents said. They killed four and kidnapped the fifth.

ISIL claimed responsibility for the beheadings, saying the four were spies for the Egyptian military. Security services were hunting down the perpetrators.

Egypt's State Information Service could not immediately be reached for comment.

The Egyptian military, which launched its campaign in Sinai after an attack in November 2017 on a mosque in which hundreds of worshippers died, says hundreds of fighters have been killed. </s> A suicide bombing killed at least two people in Egypt’s North Sinai region on Thursday, a day after four headless bodies were found there, security and medical sources said, Reuters reported.

The victims of the bombing were a civilian and a member of the security forces, the sources said.

An Egyptian military spokesman said in a statement that security forces killed the bomber before he reached a checkpoint, which was his intended target. The spokesman confirmed that a member of the armed forces was killed after the bomber’s explosive belt detonated.

Islamic State claimed responsibility for the attack via its Amaq agency, saying five members of the security forces were killed or injured.

Islamist militants, some linked to Islamic State, are active in the Sinai Peninsula, and security forces launched a major operation there in February last year.

Thursday’s bombing took place at a car park in the town of Sheikh Zuweid, near the border with the Gaza Strip, a security source and a medical source said.

READ: Over 1,000 rights violations in Egypt in 2019, says NGO

Separately, two security sources said four headless bodies were found in an empty street in the North Sinai town of Bir al-Abd on Wednesday. Their families had reported that the four men, aged 23 to 51, had been kidnapped, the sources said.

A security source and three residents said that militants stopped several cars before taking five people away and forcing them to lie down on the ground. They killed four and kidnapped the fifth, the security source and the residents said.

Islamic State claimed responsibility for the beheadings via the Amaq agency, saying the four were spies for the Egyptian military. A security source said the security services were trying to find and identify the perpetrators.

Egypt’s State Information Service could not immediately be reached for comment.

The Egyptian military, which launched its campaign in Sinai after a jihadist attack in November 2017 on a mosque in which hundreds of worshippers died, says hundreds of militants have been killed in the campaign. </s> CAIRO, July 18 (Reuters) - At least two people were killed by a suicide bombing in North Sinai on Thursday, a day after four headless bodies were found there, security and medical sources said.

The victims of the bombing were a civilian and a member of the security forces, the sources said. No one has claimed responsibility for the attack.

An Egyptian military spokesman said in a statement that security forces killed the bomber before he reached a checkpoint, which was his intended target. The spokesman confirmed that a member of the armed forces was killed.

Islamist militants, some linked to Islamic State, are active in the Sinai Peninsula, and security forces launched a major operation there in February last year.

Thursday's bombing happened at a car park in the town of Sheikh Zuweid, near the border with the Gaza Strip, a security source and a medical source said.

Separately, two security sources said four headless bodies were found in an empty street in the North Sinai town of Bir al-Abd on Wednesday. Their families had reported that the four men, aged 23 to 51, had been kidnapped, the sources said.

A security source and three residents said that militants stopped several cars before taking five people away and forcing them to lie down on the ground. They killed four and kidnapped the fifth, the security source and the residents said.

Islamic State claimed responsibility for the beheadings via its Amaq agency, saying the four were spies for the Egyptian military. A security source said the security services were trying to find and identify the perpetrators.

Egypt's State Information Service could not immediately be reached for comment.

Egypt's military campaign in Sinai was launched after a jihadist attack in November 2017 on a mosque in which hundreds of worshippers died.

The military says hundreds of militants have been killed in the campaign. (Reporting by Ahmed Mohamed Hassan, Ahmed Tolba, Yusri Mohamed and Haitham Ahmed; writing by Lena Masri; editing by Larry King) </s> EL-ARISH, Egypt — Egyptian security officials say four policemen and two civilians have been killed in a suicide bombing in the restive northern Sinai Peninsula.

The officials said on Tuesday that the suicide bomber attacked a police checkpoint at a market in the town of Sheikh Zuweid.

The officials spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to brief the media.

A local affiliate of the Islamic State group claimed responsibility for the attack.

Egypt has for years been battling a long-running insurgency in North Sinai that is now led by an Islamic State affiliate. The fighting intensified in 2013 after the military overthrew an elected but divisive Islamist president.

Authorities heavily restrict access to the northern Sinai, making it difficult to verify claims related to the fighting.

Copyright 2019 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed. </s> By The Associated Press

EL-ARISH, Egypt (AP) — Egyptian security officials say four policemen and two civilians have been killed in a suicide bombing in the restive northern Sinai Peninsula. The officials said on Tuesday that the suicide bomber…

EL-ARISH, Egypt (AP) — Egyptian security officials say four policemen and two civilians have been killed in a suicide bombing in the restive northern Sinai Peninsula.

The officials said on Tuesday that the suicide bomber attacked a police checkpoint at a market in the town of Sheikh Zuweid.

The officials spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to brief the media.

A local affiliate of the Islamic State group claimed responsibility for the attack.

Egypt has for years been battling a long-running insurgency in North Sinai that is now led by an Islamic State affiliate. The fighting intensified in 2013 after the military overthrew an elected but divisive Islamist president.

Authorities heavily restrict access to the northern Sinai, making it difficult to verify claims related to the fighting.

Copyright © 2019 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, written or redistributed. </s> EL-ARISH, Egypt - Egyptian security officials say four policemen and two civilians have been killed in a suicide bombing in the restive northern Sinai Peninsula.

The officials said on Tuesday that the suicide bomber attacked a police checkpoint at a market in the town of Sheikh Zuweid.

The officials spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to brief the media.

A local affiliate of the Islamic State group claimed responsibility for the attack.

Egypt has for years been battling a long-running insurgency in North Sinai that is now led by an Islamic State affiliate. The fighting intensified in 2013 after the military overthrew an elected but divisive Islamist president. </s> IS claims suicide bombing that killed 2 in Egypt's Sinai

CAIRO (AP) — The Islamic State group has claimed responsibility for a suicide bombing that killed two people, including a civilian, and wounded three in Egypt's restive northern Sinai Peninsula.

The militant group says in a statement on an IS-affiliate website that an IS militant named Abu Omar El-Seedy had detonated his explosive-laden vest near a military checkpoint at dawn on Thursday.

Egyptian security officials had said the bomber targeted an armored vehicle near the local market of the northern Sinai town of Sheikh Zuweid, killing a soldier and a civilian and wounding three soldiers.

Egypt has battled Islamic militants for years in the Sinai Peninsula in an insurgency that has occasionally spilled over to the mainland, striking minority Christians and also at times tourists. </s> CAIRO (Reuters) - Seven people including four police personnel were killed on Tuesday when a suicide bomber targeted police near a market in the North Sinai town of Sheikh Zuweid, Egypt’s interior ministry said in a statement.

The attacker was around 15 years old, the ministry said, and a six-year-old was among the dead. Twenty-six other people were wounded and have been transferred to hospital, it said.

The attack happened when security forces were conducting a sweep near the market, the statement said.

The head of investigations in the town and his assistant were among those killed, three security sources said.

The Islamic State group claimed responsibility for the attack and said 15 people were killed or wounded. It identified the attacker as Abu Hagar al-Masry and said he had detonated an explosive vest when he was near a police foot patrol.

Egypt is battling an Islamist militant insurgency that has carried out attacks mainly in the remote Sinai Peninsula, where the military has been conducting a major security operation since February 2018. </s> Two people including a civilian were killed in a suicide bomb attack Thursday targeting security forces in the restive Sinai Peninsula, medical and security sources said

Cairo, (UrduPoint / Pakistan Point News - APP - 18th Jul, 2019 ) :Two people including a civilian were killed in a suicide bomb attack Thursday targeting security forces in the restive Sinai Peninsula, medical and security sources said.

The attack hit forces stationed near a parking lot in the city of Sheikh Zuweid in North Sinai, the sources told AFP.

One member of the security forces was killed and three others were wounded, while a civilian also died in the bombing.

There was no immediate comment from Egyptian officials on the attack, which has not yet been claimed by any group.

North Sinai has long been a hotspot of Islamist insurgents, mainly the local affiliates of the extremist Islamic State group.

Last year, Egypt launched a massive offensive mainly with the aim of wiping out the militants in the turbulent region.

Hundreds of militants have been killed along with dozens of soldiers, according to official figures which cannot be verified as Sinai is largely cut off to journalists and independent investigators.
A suicide bombing kills two people in northern Sinai a day after four bodies were found decapitated.