Explosion in Kafr al-Sheikh kills 2 military cadets

Two military cadets were killed and six injured in an explosion on Wednesday behind a stadium in the northern governorate of Kafr al-Sheikh, the state-owned Middle East News Agency reported.

Governor Osama Hamdy told state-owned media that the explosion targeted military cadets who had gathered at the stadium and were waiting for a bus to take them back to the Military Academy in Cairo after returning from their holidays.

Initial investigations showed that the bomb was planted in one of the side rooms at the stadium, the state-owned Al-Ahram newspaper reported.

This is the third attack this week. Early on Tuesday, two electricity towers supplying the Egyptian Media Production City were targeted, taking out several satellite channels. On Sunday, two deadly attacks in Arish and Rafah claimed at least seven lives.

The Province of Sinai militant group claimed responsibility for the Sinai attacks on Sunday, along with a third attack Sunday afternoon on Armed Forces personnel near the Karm al-Qawadees checkpoint.

A number of armed militant groups have waged intermittent attacks against police and Armed Forces personnel for several years, with these attacks intensifying after the military-led removal of former President Mohamed Morsi from power in 2013.

Most attacks have targeted police stations and military facilities, but small explosions have recently started to occur in places frequented by civilians, such as train and Metro stations, shopping malls and fast food chains. This is however the first attack of its kind to target military cadets.