Egypt Army Says Foils Suicide Attack against Army Outpost
Egypt's military said Wednesday its troops foiled a suicide car bomb attack targeting an army outpost on a highway between Cairo and the canal city of Suez.
The Egyptian affiliate of the Islamic State jihadist organization known as the "Sinai Province" claimed the attack on a Twitter account affiliated to the group.
A suicide bomber driving an explosives-laden vehicle attempted to strike the outpost on a highway leading to Suez, the military spokesman said on his Facebook page.
He said the explosives-laden vehicle was destroyed and its driver killed.
The spokesman said the bomber tried to drive through a checkpoint and ignored warning shots, prompting soldiers to open fire, blowing up the vehicle.
"There were no losses among troops, and preliminary inspection shows that about half a tonne of TNT" was used, he added.
Jihadists led by IS have stepped up attacks targeting security forces since the army's ouster of Islamist president Mohamed Morsi in July 2013.
Most of their attacks have been in the restive Sinai Peninsula, but deadly attacks have also been carried out in Cairo and other cities.
On Saturday, a car bomb attack struck the Italian consulate in Cairo killing a passer-by and wounding nine others, in the first against a foreign mission since Morsi's ouster.
That attack came days after a car bomb attack in Cairo killed the country's top state prosecutor.
Source: Agence France Presse
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