Eight killed in two successive blasts in Egypt

Cairo, July 14 (IANS) At least eight people were killed and 28 others injured in two successive blasts in Egypt's Sinai peninsula, a military statement said Monday.

According to the statement, seven civilians were killed and 25 injured late Sunday when a rocket fell in Sinai's northern city of al-Arish, Xinhua reported.

The rocket was mainly targeting north Sinai's security compound but it hit a nearby populated area instead, the statement said.

In a separate attack, two rockets hit a security camp in the same city killing one person and injuring three others, the statement added.

There has been a surge in attacks by extremist militant groups mounted mainly in the restive Sinai Peninsula and some other provinces across the country, including the capital Cairo, since the military ousted the former Islamist president Mohamed Morsi last year.

More than 500 soldiers and police personnel have been killed across the country in revenge for the harsh security crackdown on the major sit-ins by Morsi's supporters in August, which left at least 1,000 people killed and thousands arrested.

Sinai-based Ansar Bayt al-Maqdis group claimed responsibility for most of the attacks against the security personnel.