AFP
An Al Qaeda-inspired jihadist group yesterday vowed new attacks in Egypt as it claimed two suicide bombings that were carried out a day before the presidential campaign began.
Ansar Beit al-Maqdis (Partisans of Jerusalem) said it carried out Friday’s attacks, which targeted a checkpoint and a nearby bus outside the South Sinai provincial capital Al Tur.
A soldier was killed and six policemen were wounded by the first bomber. Five civilians were wounded by the second.
The Sinai-based group, which has claimed some of the deadliest attacks in Egypt since the ouster of Islamist president Mohamed Mursi last July, called for a revolt against the military-installed authorities
“We will not rest until we avenge the blood and bodies of Muslims,” the group said in a statement posted on jihadist forums, referring to the killing of Mursi supporters in a brutal police crackdown launched after his ouster.
Ansar Beit al-Maqdis said it was “responsible for the two attacks” on Friday, and urged “Egyptian people to revolt against this oppressive regime ... and not just hold peaceful protests”.
Friday’s attacks came a day before campaigning for the May 26-27 presidential election began.
Former army chief Abdel Fattah al-Sisi is the frontrunner in the election, with leftist leader Hamdeen Sabbahi as his only rival.