Five injured in blast in Egypt

At least five persons, including two policemen, were injured today in a bomb blast at a residential area, mainly occupied by police personnel, in Egypt's north Sinai region.
The blast took place after militants planted explosives near the house, a security official said.
Parts of four houses in the area collapsed because of the explosion which hit the residential area, where most residents are police personnel.
Egypt's Sinai has witnessed many violent attacks by militants since the January 2011 revolution that toppled the ex-president Hosni Mubarak.
Militant attacks targeting police and military increased after the ouster of Islamist ex-president Mohamed Morsi in 2013. Over 500 security personnel have been killed since then.

Egypt has declared a three-month state of emergency and a curfew in different parts of Sinai following a terror attack that left 31 Egyptian soldiers dead last October.
The military has launched security campaigns in the area, arrested suspects and demolished houses that belonged to terrorists, including those facilitating tunnels leading to the Gaza Strip.