Egyptian Soldiers Killed in Sinai Ambush

Arish, Egypt (Antara/Xinhua-OANA) - Four Egyptian recruits were killed on Saturday in an ambush set by anti-government extremists in Rafah city in North Sinai, a security source told Xinhua on condition of anonymity. "The four recruits were coming back to the peninsula after a holiday and were not in security uniform," said the source. " The extremist militants stopped them in an ambush, checked their identities, forced them out of the vehicle, and shot them dead." Self-proclaimed Islamist militants have been launching terrorist attacks and bombings against police and military targets since the Egyptian army, led by then military leader Abdel-Fattah al-Sisi, overthrew former Islamist President Mohamed Morsi last year following mass protests against his one-year rule. The extremists claimed their attacks are in response to the massive security crackdown on Morsi's supporters over the past 10 months, which left more than 1,000 killed and thousands others arrested. Civilians and tourists have also become targets of such attacks later. On Saturday, a girl was killed and her mother was seriously wounded in an explosion that hit a telecommunication center at October 6 City on the outskirts of capital Cairo. A police report said the bombing was caused by two handmade explosive devices. A couple of days earlier, seven handmade explosives rocked several underground metro stations in Cairo and injured at least six people.(*)