Cairo – Two bombers attacked Egyptian police on Wednesday near a military base under the command of the U.S.- led Multinational Force and Observers, which helps secure the Sinai Peninsula in support of the 1979 Egyptian-Israeli peace accord.
Egypt’s Interior Ministry said the bombers died in the attacks, and no one else was injured.
Just before noon, the first bomber approached a car carrying an Egyptian immigration official, a member of the MFO and another Egyptian as they left el-Gorah air base near the town of Rafah, which borders the Gaza Strip. The ministry did not provide the nationality of the MFO member.
An explosive the man was carrying blew up in his possession.
Interior Ministry spokesman Mahmoud Fishawy said the attacker was not a suicide bomber, suggesting he meant to toss an explosive at the automobile. The blast shattered a window of the car.
Soon afterward, a Bedouin on a bicycle blocked the car of two officers sent to investigate the first blast and blew himself up, Fishawy said.
He described the second attacker as a suicide bomber.
The United States commands the MFO and provides the largest troop contingent. Egypt and Israel also provide funding.
The attacks followed a trio of near-simultaneous bombings Monday aimed at civilians in the south Sinai resort town of Dahab. The attacks killed at least 18 people, among them up to a half-dozen foreigners.
The Dahab strike was the third bombing of a Sinai resort in 18 months. The first two, in and around Taba near the Israeli border and at Sharm el-Sheikh at the southern tip of the peninsula, were blamed on a violent Islamic group with roots in the northern Sinai.
The bombers included Bedouins, desert nomads who for centuries have dominated the dry and rugged Sinai terrain. Bedouin tribes also provided logistical support for the Taba and Sharm el-Shiekh bombers.
Egyptian authorities said those attackers had no organizational links to al-Qaeda or other global terrorist networks, although they may have been inspired by al-Qaeda calls to attack foreigners and governments that are allied with the United States. Egypt has long been a staunch U.S. ally.
Investigators have detained at least 10 suspects in the Dahab bombing. The police are describing them as members of a “small cell” with Islamic roots based in the Sinai, a senior government official said Wednesday. It was still unclear whether the cell is connected to the plots against Taba and Sharm el-Shiekh.
