Sinai jihadists say they killed Egyptian soldiers

A little known jihadist group in Egypt's Sinai on Thursday claimed responsibility for two car bombings that killed six Egyptian soldiers a day earlier in the border town of Rafah. Jund al-Islam, or Islam's Soldiers in English, made the claim in a statement posted on militant Islamist forums. The statement accused the military of targeting "unarmed Muslims" in a campaign to quell an Islamist militant insurgency in the north of the peninsula. "It was necessary for your brothers in Jund al-Islam to quickly respond to these crimes," the statement said. "Two big security installations including the military intelligence headquarters were targeted," the statement said, adding that the attacks were carried out by two suicide bombers. The military said six soldiers were killed in Wednesday's blasts, which targeted the military headquarters and a nearby checkpoint. Little is known about Jund al-Islam, which was identified by state media as one of the militant groups operating in Sinai. A number of murky Al-Qaeda-inspired groups in the peninsula have taken credit for other attacks in Egypt and against neighbouring Israel. Source: AFP