14 police conscripts injured in training center blast in Egypt

At least 14 police conscripts and two civilians were injured Saturday in a blast outside the police training center of Egypt's Delta province of Gharbiya northwest of Cairo, official MENA news agency reported.

The 16 injured persons have been taken to a nearby university hospital for treatment, while the authorities imposed a security cordon around the explosion spot and several ambulances rushed to the scene, said the report.

Egypt has been suffering a growing wave of terrorist attacks that killed hundreds of policemen and soldiers since the army removed former Islamist President Mohamed Morsi in July 2013 in response to mass protests against his one-year controversial rule.

Later security crackdown on Morsi's supporters left hundreds dead and thousands arrested, while his Muslim Brotherhood group was designated as a "terrorist organization."

The anti-government terrorist attacks focused on restive North Sinai province, but they gradually extended to reach Cairo and other cities nationwide, with most of them claimed by a Sinai-based group loyal to the Islamic State (IS) terrorist group.

Security campaigns in Sinai have killed hundreds of militants and arrested a similar number of suspects over the past few years as part of the country's anti-terror war declared by former army chief and current President Abdel-Fattah al-Sisi following Morsi's removal.

On Saturday, the Egyptian military spokesman announced that 14 militants were killed and 21 suspects arrested during raids in North Sinai.

Earlier on March 23, he announced that similar raids killed 15 militants while blasts left 10 military personnel dead, including three officers. Endit