Roadside bomb wounds 20 policemen in Egypt's Sinai

EL-ARISH, Egypt (AP) — A roadside bomb in Egypt's restive northern Sinai on Thursday wounded 20 policemen travelling in a bus and an armored personnel carrier, security officials said, the latest attack in the troubled part of the peninsula where Egyptian forces are battling an insurgency.

The bombing in the provincial capital of el-Arish came just a week after one of the most vicious attacks on Egyptian troops in the region, in which militants launched sustained, coordinated attacks on a northern Sinai town, military checkpoints and installations that drew a swift offensive and aerial bombardment from government aircraft. In that attack, at least 17 army soldiers were killed, according to Egypt's military, although other branches of security put the toll much higher.

The assault was claimed by an Islamic State group affiliate. The military said its troops killed over 200 militants since the attack and posted photographs of their bodies, most of them in military-style fatigues. Media access to the area is restricted, complicating independent verification of reports.

Government forces have been carrying out an intensified hunt for militants in several northern Sinai towns. But in el-Arish, a more densely populated area, government forces are more vulnerable to road side bombs — which have become a recurrent weapon used against troops.

The security officials said the bus carried policemen in civilian clothes as they left el-Arish at the start of their leave. The armored carrier was their escort, and was hit hardest by the bomb, according to the officials.

Most of the 20 policemen were lightly wounded, according to the officials, who spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to speak to the media.

In the past week, the officials said, homes of three policemen in el-Arish were also bombed, mostly causing damages.

The government is facing a widening insurgency that has trickled from Sinai to other parts of the country amid an intense security crackdown on dissent following the military's ouster of Islamist President Mohammed Morsi in the summer of 2013. Thousands of protesters and activists have been arrested, accused mostly of protesting and using violence.

On Thursday, the wife and the lawyer of a prominent secular activist, Khaled ElSayed, said he was detained at the Cairo airport before boarding a plane to Qatar.

ElSayed's phone has been switched off since 6 a.m., soon after he sent his lawyer a message saying he has been arrested. His lawyer, Halem Henish, said he has not been allowed access to ElSayed.

"I don't know where Khaled is," his wife, Hoda Mahmoud, said from Qatar. "He has been in detention for more than 10 hours, with no telephone, no lawyer and no one knows where he is, or why he's held."

An airport security official said ElSayed was stopped from boarding the plane because he is wanted for violence-related cases. The official did not elaborate and spoke on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to speak to reporters.

Henish said ElSayed has appealed an earlier one-month sentence for protesting. The appeal session is due in September, Henish said, describing his client's arrest as illegal.

ElSayed was one of a dozen youth activists who met with the military in 2011 to represent the demands of the protesters during the 18-day uprising against Egypt's longtime autocrat Hosni Mubarak. ElSayed has remained in the opposition.

Activists have reported a rise in illegal detentions, with dozens of civilians picked up on the streets or from their homes and held for prolonged periods without official reports or access to lawyers.

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Associated Press writer Sarah El Deeb contributed to this report from Cairo.