Two bombs have exploded near a hotel in Egypt's volatile Sinai region, where election judges were staying. At least three people have been killed, including a policeman, and 12 injured, security and medical sources said, as cited by Reuters.
The explosions in Arish come a day after the second round of a parliamentary election. The Army and police cordoned off the scene, while ambulances rushed there. No group has claimed responsibility for the attack, according to Reuters.
A suicide bomber detonated the bomb in front of the Swiss Inn hotel in the city, a security source told the Vetogate news portal. Reuters cited security sources who said the terrorist attempted to drive his bomb-laden vehicle into the hotel before security forces opened fire, causing the car to explode.
Arish is the capital of Northern Sinai province, some 100 kilometers from the site of the Russian passenger Metrojet plane that crashed on October 30 killing 224 people.
Security sources and Egypt's state TV initially said a car bomb exploded then a second blast hit the within 10 minutes, Reuters reports.
The jihadist group Islamic State (formerly ISIS/ISIL) claimed responsibility for the attack.
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Militants in northern Sinai have been battling security forces for years intensifying attacks on officials and military following the ouster of Islamist President Mohammed Morsi in July 2013.