EL ARISH, EGYPT// A powerful explosion killed six Egyptian policemen near the border town of Rafah in the restive Sinai Peninsula early Tuesday, in an attack that bore the hallmarks of a local Al Qaeda-inspired group.
The interior ministry said the bomb was hidden deep under the asphalt of a highway, in an area called Wadi Halfa, where a joint police and army force was passing early in the morning.
The force was assigned to detect explosives but it was unclear if they were searching for them at the time of the attack. The blast shredded the armoured vehicle.
The attack has not been claimed but the Sinai Peninsula is a hotbed of extremist groups who regularly attack security forces in retaliation for a government crackdown against Islamist supporters of ousted president Mohammed Morsi.
Suicide bombings, assassinations and road side bombs have killed dozens of policemen and army officers.
Recently, militants have beheaded men they accused of spying on them for Israeli intelligence.
While authorities blame Mr Morsi’s Muslim Brotherhood group over the violence, another Al Qaeda-inspired group known as Ansar Beit Al Maqdis has claimed responsibility for most of the major attacks.
The group says it is avenging the authorities’ crackdown on Mr Morsi’s Islamist supporters who have been staging near daily protests demanding his reinstatement.
The crackdown has killed at least 1,400 people dead, and placed more than 15,000 Morsi supporters and members of the Muslim Brotherhood group behind bars.
The insurgency is more intense in the Sinai Peninsula, home to Ansar Beit Al Maqdis and other extremist militants. For years, the northern region bordering Gaza and Israel has been a militant stronghold and base for weapons and militant smuggling to and from Gaza.
Tuesday’s bombing is identical to a September 2 explosion that killed 11 police officers in the same area, also with an underground roadside bomb detonated remotely.
Ansar Beit Al Maqdis claimed responsibility for that attack days later, posting a video showing its preparation and execution as militants shouted “God is great”.
On Monday, the military said its troops had killed 56 militants and seized large amounts of explosives in the last two weeks.
* Associated Press, with additional reporting from Agence France-Presse
