2 police officers killed in Egypt's Sinai blast

At least two policemen were killed and three recruits injured late Wednesday night as their armored vehicle was hit by a blast in Arish city in Egypt's North Sinai province, a security source told Xinhua.

"The blast took place at Al-Masaeed area south of Arish city, which was carried out by extremist militants," the source added, believing the Sinai-based Al-Qaida-inspired Ansar Bayt al-Maqdis (ABM) group is behind the attack.

Earlier in the evening, 11 civilians were killed and six others injured, including women and children, as militants mistakenly launched mortar shells at two houses while they targeted military premises in Sheikh Zuweid city of North Sinai.

Meanwhile, five militants were killed on Wednesday during clashes with security forces in North Sinai as part of the security raids on militants' hideouts in the peninsula.

Terrorist activities mounted in Egypt since the ouster of former Islamist President Mohamed Morsi by the army in July 2013 and the following security crackdown on his loyalists that left about 1,000 killed and thousands more arrested.

On the other hand, hundreds of police and army personnel were killed in anti-government attacks carried out by extremist and self-proclaimed Islamists.

Most of the attacks took place in the restive peninsula but they extended to reach the capital Cairo and other provinces across the country.

The ABM group, which has recently pledged allegiance to the Islamic State (IS) regional militant group, claimed responsibility for most of the anti-government attacks in Egypt. Endi