Roadside blast kills police officer in Egypt’s Sinai

By Omar Thabet

CAIRO

A senior police officer was killed late Wednesday in Egypt’s restive Sinai Peninsula, according to a statement issued by the Interior Ministry.

“A security vehicle struck a roadside bomb while passing through the city of Al-Arish in North Sinai,” the statement read.

The attack, it added, had led to the death of Police Colonel Yassir al-Hadidi and the injury of another police officer and a conscript.

No group has claimed responsibility for the attack.

Sinai has remained at the epicenter of a deadly militant insurgency since mid-2013, when Mohamed Morsi -- Egypt’s first freely-elected president -- was ousted in a military coup.

Since then, hundreds of Egyptian security personnel have been killed in militant attacks across the volatile peninsula.

Egyptian security forces, for their part, continue to wage a fierce campaign -- involving elements of both the police and army -- against what they describe as Sinai-based "terrorist groups".

Egypt’s army-backed authorities say they are battling the Welayat Sinai ("Province of Sinai") group, which is alleged to have links with the Daesh terrorist organization.