Security forces detained several Sharm El-Sheikh blast suspects after raiding their Sinai hideouts, reports Jailan Halawi Acting on a tip, security forces raided a farm in the Sinai Mediterranean coastal town of Arish, arresting three men they said were connected with the 23 July Sharm El-Sheikh bombings that left 67 dead and scores injured. Police also seized nearly a tonne of explosives at the farm. Forensic experts are comparing between more explosives and firearms seized at the suspects' hideout, and traces of explosives found at the scene of the three bombings. An earlier Interior Ministry statement said the police had captured a man and a woman on Friday 12 August, also on suspicion of involvement in the Sharm attacks. The two were captured separately after a gun battle that took place when authorities raided their hideout near the Suez Canal city of Ismailia. Two police officers were wounded in the clash. The woman, the statement said, was captured with an automatic rifle in her possession after her accomplice managed to escape, fleeing into the rugged Sinai mountains. Hours later the man was caught trying to escape a checkpoint near the Ahmed Helmi tunnel. Police are still searching for two more suspects. All of those being pursued by the authorities are believed to have helped the three suicide bombers plan and prepare for the blasts. The tip about the hideouts where the three suspects and the cache of explosives were found on Sunday came from a man identified as one of the main suspects in the case, security forces said. He was identified as a guard at a farm in Arish that was reportedly registered to a Palestinian national. The guard's identity was uncovered after security sources traced the route of two pick-up trucks used to ship the explosives from the centre of the Sinai Peninsula to Sharm El-Sheikh. Following the blasts, security forces combed South Sinai's rugged mountainous regions for suspects as President Hosni Mubarak vowed to dig terrorism "out by its roots". He also ordered security enhanced around the Red Sea resort itself. Thus, all entrances and exits to and from the city were tightly secured and the entire area placed under watertight surveillance, especially places populated by Bedouins. Preliminary investigations said the explosives used in Sharm El-Sheikh were similar to those used in last October's Taba bombings, which were blamed on a cell led by a Palestinian resident of Arish. Police have confirmed that suicide bombers -- who died in the blasts -- carried out all three of the July bombings, which were detonated in succession around 1.30am. The first blast, detonated via a pickup truck driven by a suicide bomber, left a crater 10 feet wide and about three feet deep in the middle of a street housing a two- storey shopping mall and an arcade of shops and cafés. The second was carried out using a vehicle that was driven into the reception area of the Ghazala Gardens Hotel after speeding past a security checkpoint. The third -- which took place minutes later at a beachfront parking lot and shuttle stop frequented by tourists -- used an explosive device that was hidden in the bomber's bag. Three groups, two of which said they were linked to Saudi dissident Osama Bin Laden's Al-Qaeda network, claimed responsibility for the attacks. The authenticity of their statements, however, could not be verified. Days before the blasts, authorities received information of an imminent terror attack in Sharm El-Sheikh. The information indicated that casinos would be targeted, so security was enhanced around those sites in particular. Officials would not say where the information came from, but said security forces in Sharm were ordered to be on alert. Shortly after the blasts, the interior minister sacked the heads of security in both the north and south of Sinai.
