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CAIRO (AP) — The Egyptian military said on Friday that a car bomb in the volatile northern Sinai killed a woman and a child.
The explosion took place in the town of Rafah, which borders the Gaza Strip, the military said on its official Facebook page. The bomb went off during movements by the armed forces and police in the area, the military said, adding that extremists in the region intentionally targeted civilians in the incident.
The army did not say when the attack happened.
Earlier Friday, security officials said the attack occurred on Friday and that it was caused by a suicide car bomb that killed a 61-year-old man and his two children, seven and three years old, inside their home. The explosion targeted an approaching military convoy, according to the officials, who spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to talk to reporters. The officials also said one soldier and four civilians were wounded in the explosion.
The two different accounts could not be reconciled. Northern Sinai, where the military is carrying out operations against militant groups, including the Islamic State's affiliate in Egypt, is mostly off limits to the media.
Late Thursday, the military reported killing 48 militants in four days in an operation in northern Sinai dubbed "The Right of The Martyr."
Egypt is battling an insurgency that has largely targeted troops in northern Sinai. The militants say they are avenging a government crackdown on Islamists.
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