Car bomb near hotel housing judges in north Sinai kills 1

Cairo: A car bomb exploded outside a hotel housing judges monitoring Egypt’s parliamentary elections in the restive north Sinai, killing at least one policeman in the latest attack aimed at undermining government efforts to restore order.

The explosion outside the Swiss Inn hotel in the city of Al Arish also wounded two security personnel, Major Mohammad Khalaf, an official with the North Sinai Security Directorate, said by phone. The blast was followed by an exchange of gunfire, he said. State television had reported that a second blast was heard following the initial car bombing.

North Sinai has been the epicenter of a war between President Abdul Fattah Al Sisi’s administration and militants allied with the Daesh militants (the self-styled Islamic State group).

The organisation’s local affiliate has also claimed responsibility for the downing of a Russian jetliner shortly after its takeoff from the southern Sinai Red Sea resort of Sharm El Sheikh last month. That crash killed all 224 on board, threatening to derail a nascent tourism recovery in Egypt.