Soldiers die in suicide attack on bus in Sinai

The soldiers who belonged to the 2nd Field Army, which is doing most of the fighting against Islamic militants waging an insurgency against security forces in Sinai, were on their way to Cairo.

The northern Sinai region, which borders Gaza and Israel, has been restless for years, but attacks have grown more frequent and deadlier since the July overthrow of Islamist president Mohammed Morsi.

There was no claim of responsibility but suicide car bombings are a signature method of militant groups linked to or inspired by al-Qaida.

It was the latest in a series of similar attacks targeting army and police facilities and checkpoints. In August, gunmen pulled 25 police conscripts off minibuses in the Sinai and shot them dead.

Northern Sinai’s violence has occasionally spilled over into cities in the southern part of the peninsula as well as mainland Egypt.

In September, the interior minister, who is in charge of the police, survived an assassination attempt by a suicide car bomb. Earlier this week, a senior security officer who monitors Islamist groups, including Morsi’s Muslim Brotherhood, was shot dead as he drove in Cairo’s Nasr City district.