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Sinai's Suicide Attack:An Eyewitness Account

A suicide bombing and overall violence has led to fear among Sinai residents of what comes next.

Army soldiers stand guard around the area where rocket-propelled grenades hit a bus in El-Arish city, North Sinai July 15, 2013. At least three people were killed and 17 wounded when suspected militants fired rocket-propelled grenades at a bus carrying workers in Egypt's North Sinai province early on Monday, security and medical sources said. REUTERS/Stringer (EGYPT - Tags: CIVIL UNREST POLITICS) - RTX11NA2
Army soldiers stand guard around the area where rocket-propelled grenades hit a bus in El-Arish city, North Sinai, July 15, 2013, killing three. — REUTERS

SHEIKH ZUWAYYED, North Sinai, Egypt — On Tuesday, Aug. 27, North Sinai witnessed its first suicide attack that targeted Sheikh Zuwayyed's police compound. Despite being accustomed to echoing gunshots and explosions around their restive community, residents of the town and its surrounding Bedouin villages were shocked by the devastation and fear what is to come.

Egyptian security authorities offered few details regarding the attack, which is seen as a major development in the tactics and momentum of Sinai's militant groups that have unleashed an uninterrupted chain of attacks on police and military checkpoints and facilities over the past seven weeks.

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