IS says it used suicide car bomb against Egyptian police

CAIRO – The extremist Islamic State group says it used a suicide car bomb in its deadly attack on a police convoy in the turbulent north of Egypt’s Sinai Peninsula.

The account given by Egypt’s Interior Ministry of Monday’s attack only says that a car that rushed toward the convoy exploded when policemen in the convoy shot at it.

Egyptian security and military officials say four armoured vehicles and a fifth one carrying signal-jamming equipment were destroyed in the attack and a police pickup was commandeered0 by the militants. They say 18 police were killed and another seven wounded in the attack.

The late Monday IS statement says the attack left a total of 35 dead or wounded and identifies the suicide bomber by his alias, Abu Suleiman al-Masri.