Three Central Security conscripts were injured on Sunday morning when traveling between the North Sinai capital of Al-Arish and Rafah in Sheikh Zuweid, according to state-owned Al-Ahram. Unknown assailants reportedly opened fire using live ammunition and rocket-propelled grenades on a bus transferring the conscripts. Violence by militant groups in Sinai has escalated since former President Mohamed Morsi's ouster and the Egyptian military has announced an intensified security campaign in the volatile peninsula. Last week at least nine soldiers were wounded when improvised bombs targeted vehicles in Rafah. A few days before, a suicide bomber killed four soldiers and injured five in an explosion at the Al-Rayessa checkpoint. The checkpoint had been attacked more than 40 times since January 2011. On Saturday, a car bomb in the canal city of Ismailia exploded near the Military Intelligence building. The explosion left six wounded with no reported fatalities. No group has claimed responsibility for the detonation. "This is a continuation of a series of cowardly operations by terrorist groups motivated by dark goals against the Egyptian people, vital military installations and the general goals of the country," said the spokesman for the Armed Forces, Colonel Ahmed Ali, on Saturday in reaction to the bombing.
