Egypt army says foils suicide attack against army outpost

Cairo: Egypt’s military said Wednesday its troops foiled a suicide car bomb attack targeting an army outpost on a highway leading to the canal city of Suez.

The Egyptian affiliate of Daesh 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 between Cairo and Suez, the military spokesman said on his Facebook page.

He said the explosives-laden vehicle was destroyed and its driver killed, without giving other details.

Militants led by Daesh have stepped up attacks targeting security forces since the army’s ouster of Islamist president Mohammad Mursi 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.