Egyptian troops die in Sinai bomb attack...

Eleven Egyptian military personnel
have been killed and dozens more
wounded in a car bomb attack
near the North Sinai city of el-
Arish.
Al-Masri al-Youm newspaper said
a convoy of buses carrying
infantry soldiers was hit by a
roadside bomb as it moved
through the Kharouba area.
Attacks on security forces in the
Sinai have increased since
Islamist President Mohammed
Morsi was ousted in July.
No group has yet admitted
carrying out Wednesday's
bombing.
The peninsula has grown
increasingly unstable in recent
years, triggered by the fall of
President Hosni Mubarak.
His overthrow in February 2011
left the northern Sinai vulnerable
to groups of jihadists, some with
links to the Gaza Strip.
In September security forces
launched an offensive against
Islamist militants in the Sinai, but
have suffered a spate of deadly
bombings. In recent months some
100 members of the security
forces have been killed.
Wednesday's attack, which took
place at around 07:45 local time
(05:45 GMT) on the road from
Rafah to el-Arish, is thought to be
the bloodiest against the military
since Mr Morsi was deposed.
All 11 who died and the 37
reported injured were serving
military personnel.
The attack is said to have targeted
Egypt's Second Field Army, which
has been deployed in Sinai and
has been involved in an operation
to destroy tunnels along Egypt's
border with Gaza.
The soldiers were on their way
back to Cairo on leave, reports
said. Some of the most seriously
wounded victims were being
airlifted to hospital in the capital.
Communications with the area
were cut as military helicopters
circled over the area, searching
for the attackers, BBC Cairo
correspondent Orla Guerin reports.
'Black terrorism'
Interim Prime Minister Hazem
Beblawi condemned the attack
and said the government was
looking at "all the alternatives to
deal with the ongoing terrorist
incidents".
Egypt's military spokesman
expressed his condolences and
said the armed forces would
continue to fight "black terrorism".
A local source said the bombing
was in revenge for the army
offensive which had destroyed
militant hideouts and arms caches
in Sinai.
Meanwhile, a Sinai-based jihadist
group linked to al-Qaeda has
admitted killing a high-ranking
member of Egypt's National
Security Agency outside his home
in eastern Cairo this week.
Ansar Bayt al-Maqdis said it had
shot dead Col Mohammed Mabruk,
who had been due to testify
against ex-President Morsi.
The colonel was believed to have
helped uncover a network of
Muslim Brotherhood members that
had tried to help leaders of the
movement flee the country after
Mr Morsi was ousted. The former
president is part of the
Brotherhood.
In a separate incident in Cairo on
Wednesday, at least three people
were hurt in an attack on a police
checkpoint. An explosive device
was thrown and shots were fired
at the checkpoint, reports said. It
was not clear who was behind the
incident.
The army deposed Mohammed
Morsi on 3 July after days of mass
protests and a military ultimatum
to resolve the political crisis that
had evolved between his Islamist
supporters and opponents.
Mr Morsi and thousands of
Brotherhood leaders and members
have since been arrested.
Hundreds of Morsi supporters
died when two protest camps
were violently broken up by the
military in August.