1st LD: Suicide bombing kills at least 6 in Egypt's Sinai

At last six people were killed and dozens injured on Sunday in a suicide bomb attack on a main police station in Egypt's North Sinai city of al-Arish, security sources said.

A suicide bomber driving a car packed with explosives hit the police station which was destroyed due to the huge blast, the sources told Xinhua on condition of anonymity.

At least 15 people were critically injured and admitted to a nearby hospital.

The sources said many are feared dead in the attack as all attempts to contact the policemen at the police station have failed.

The attack has also caused damage to neighboring houses.

Rescue workers and firefighters have rushed to the scene, while police officers sealed off the street where the attack happened.

The bombing came a few hours after five army soldiers were killed in a blast in North Sinai city of Sheikh Zuweid.

An army armored vehicle carrying off-duty soldiers from their camp, was exploded when it passed over a roadside bomb in a military zone.

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

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

The militants claimed the attacks, mainly against the army and the policemen, were in retaliation for the security dispersal of two pro-Morsi sit-ins which left nearly 1,000 killed.

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