11 Wounded in Explosion in Egypt's Nile Delta

Two bombs exploded in Egypt’s Nile Delta Tanta city on Thursday, wounding 11 people. No deaths were reported. 

AP reported, “two bombs went off in a city in northern Egypt late Thursday, striking a Sufi Muslim religious festival and wounding 11 people, officials said, the latest in a spate of attacks that have targeted Egyptian government forces, institutions and public gatherings.”

“Most of the victims were wounded by flying shrapnel, said Magdy Awad, chairman of the local ambulance services. The victims were taken to the Tanta University Hospital and none were reported to be in critical condition” AP reported.

Ahram Online stated, “a source at the ministry of interior told Ahram Arabic news website that two home-made bombs exploded at 6:15PM near the mosque shattering restaurants’ windows. The source added that a police officer was among the injured.” Adding that the attack occurred near “Al-Sayyed Al-Badawi mosque, the 13th century revered Sufi Sheikh, as thousands of people were marking the last night of a week-long celebration of El-Baddawi Mouled (birthday).”

On Tuesday evening, 13 people were wounded, 3 in critical condition, when a home-made bomb went off at Ramses Street’s metro station, a crowded area that has witnessed recurring violence since the removal of former Islamist President Morsi due to a popular uprising from millions of Egyptians against the terrorist-led government of the Muslim Brotherhood.

Egypt has been battling against a wave of violence from Islamist militants since summer of 2013, when Morsi was removed from power. Over 500 Egyptian military and policemen have been killed from militants since his removal.

Egypt has been taking the lead in the fight against terrorism, launching a major military offensive in the Sinai to rid the area of terrorists after the removal of Morsi. Egypt has pushed for the US-led coalition against the Islamic State to go beyond Iraq and Syria and confront all terrorist organizations.

During a meeting with Secretary of State John Kerry last September, Egyptian President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi “stressed that any international coalition against terrorism must be a comprehensive alliance that is not limited to confront a certain organization or to curb a single terrorist hotbed but must expand to include all the terrorist hotbeds across the Middle East and Africa.”

After Morsi was removed from power, the United States suspended military supplies and equipment to Egypt. Last October, the United States froze economic aid, which was recently partially reinstated last June, mainly to continue to pay existing defense contracts.

An Egyptian Air Force Commander confirmed this week that the shipment of US Apache helicopters are to arrive in Egypt soon after Secretary of State John Kerry told Egyptian President Abdel-Fattah el-Sisi that the helicopters would arrive in November, reported Ahram Online. He stated, “ten US Apache helicopters were loaded onto to ships for delivery to Egypt four days ago.”