An improvised explosive device (IED) exploded early Sunday outside the branch of a telecommunications company in Fayoum, state-owned newspaper Al-Ahram reported. The explosion caused damage to the Etisalat branch's exterior, and also damaged another neighbouring store. Police forces combed the area following the incident, but uncovered no further IEDs. A report was filed to the prosecution to begin investigations. On Saturday, another bomb exploded in Fayoum, whilst three others were defused by civilian protection forces. Another bomb also exploded in Aswan on Saturday. In addition, violence is ongoing in the North Sinai region. One woman and three children were killed during separate incidents on Saturday. Security forces announced that they discovered and defused several IEDs on Sunday. Egypt has recently witnessed an escalation in violence, beginning with the assassination of Prosecutor General Hisham Barakat in an explosion in Cairo last week. Two days later, an unprecedented simultaneous attack was conducted against security forces in the North Sinai town of Sheikh Zuweid. At least five checkpoints were attacked, resulting in the deaths of 17 military personnel and at least 100 militants, according to a statement from the military. Other reports, however, put the toll at much higher. The attacks last Wednesday in North Sinai were claimed by militant group "State of Sinai", formally known as Ansar Beit Al-Maqdis. The group now calls itself "State of Sinai" after pledging allegiance to the regional fundamentalist group "Islamic State". The group has claimed many of the attacks in the North Sinai region, most of which have targeted security forces. Authorities have been struggling to quell an insurgency in the region since early 2011, not long after long-time president Hosni Mubarak was deposed. The violence surged following the ouster of former president Mohamed Morsi from power. The military, led by then-general, now-president Abdel Fattah Al-Sisi removed Morsi from office following three days of mass protests against his turbulent one-year rule. Although terrorist attacks have mainly been focused in the Sinai Peninsula, more recently, they have increasingly targeted urban areas, including the capital Cairo.
