Al-Qaeda supporters in the Sinai
Al-Qaeda supporters in the SinaiReuters

Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi declared Sunday that anyone convicted of digging tunnels into Gaza from Sinai or of assisting in such activity would face a death sentence, according to a report on Israel's Channel 1 TV.

Sunday proved to be another bloody day in Egypt, as at least five people were killed and some 30 injured in bomb blasts outside a police station in the Sinai town of El Arish, news agencies said. Authorities blamed Islamist terror groups who have essentially take control of Sinai for the attack.

In yet a second major attack Sunday on security forces in Sinai, seven soldiers were killed when a bomb hit an armored vehicle near Sheikh Zuweid, a town in northern Sinai near the Gaza border. Islamists from the Sinai Province group, said to be affiliated with the Islamic State, took responsibility for that attack.

Sunday's casualties join hundreds that have been killed in bombings by groups in Sinai and other areas of Egypt, seeking control of the country, or at least the Sinai area. Last Wednesday, eleven civilians - mostly women and children - and two policemen were killed in attacks launched in the northern Sinai Peninsula when mortar rounds hit two houses in villages just outside of El Arish. In a separate incident Wednesday, an explosive set at a passing military vehicle, killing two policemen.

In March, the Egyptian terrorist group Ajnad Misr (Egypt’s Soldiers) has claimed responsibility for yesterday’s (Saturday) bombing at Cairo University that injured eight, including four police officers. Posting on an Islamic State website, the extremist group, which regularly targets Egyptian security forces in its attacks, stated that it had planted the bomb, meant to kill police officers and private security guards who were posted at the university’s entrance.