1st LD: Blast kills five army men in Egypt's Sinai

At least five army men, including an officer, were killed, and four other soldiers were wounded Sunday in an explosion in the Egyptian province of North Sinai, an official security source told Xinhua.

The explosion took place when an armored vehicle carrying off duty soldiers passed over a roadside bomb in Kharouba village in southern Sheikh Zuweid city, the source said on condition of anonymity.

The injured were transferred to Arish Military Hospital, the source added.

Military operations escalated heavily in restive Sinai Peninsula after the ouster of the Islamist president Mohamed Morsi by the army in response to mass protest against his one-year rule in 2013.

The militants claimed the attacks, mainly against the army and the policemen, were in retaliation for the harsh security crackdown on Morsi's supporters which left nearly 1,000 killed and thousands in prisons.

Earlier in April, at least 15 military men and four civilians were killed and about 40 others injured in series of armed attacks on several checkpoints in Sheikh Zuweid city, while security raids on the same day killed around 55 militants.

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

Sinai-based Ansar Bayt al-Maqdis, which has recently pledged allegiance to the Islamic State regional militant group, claimed responsibility for most of the anti-government attacks in Egypt. Endit