Egypt's Interior Ministry says roadside bomb kills 6 policemen in restive Sinai Peninsula

FILE - In this Tuesday, May 21, 2013, file photo, Egyptian Army soldiers patrol in an armored vehicle backed by a helicopter gunship during a sweep through villages in Sheikh Zuweyid, northern Sinai, Egypt. and police facilities and checkpoints. A powerful explosion killed several Egyptian police conscripts and an officer near the border town of Rafah in the restive Sinai Peninsula early Tuesday, Sept. 16, 2014, in an attack that bore the hallmarks of a local al-Qaida-inspired group, Egyptian security officials said. The Interior Ministry and a security official said the bomb was hidden deep under the asphalt of a highway, in an area called Wadi Halfa, where a joint police and army force was passing early in the morning. (AP Photo, File) (The Associated Press)

FILE - In this Saturday, April 26, 2014 file photo, demonstrators protest in front of the presidential palace in Cairo, Egypt. Mahmoud Abdel-Bari, the spokesman of Egypt's transitional justice ministry, says the body is drafting amendments to the country's disputed protest law, which bans demonstrations without a police permit. Abdel-Bari said Tuesday that the ministry will announce a draft law within days saying amendments could include lighter penalties and changes in procedures related to obtaining permits from police for protests. Arabic in poster in center reads: "Drop law and get them out of prison." (AP Photo/Ahmed Gomaa, File) (The Associated Press)

FILE -- In this Tuesday, Nov. 26, 2013 file photo, Egyptian police fire water cannons to disperse a protest by secular anti-government activists in Cairo. Mahmoud Abdel-Bari, the spokesman of Egypt's transitional justice ministry, says the body is drafting amendments to the country's disputed protest law, which bans demonstrations without a police permit. Abdel-Bari said Tuesday that the ministry will announce a draft law within days saying amendments could include lighter penalties and changes in procedures related to obtaining permits from police for protests. (AP Photo/Mohammed Asad, File) (The Associated Press)

Egypt's Interior Ministry says a roadside bomb has killed five police conscripts and an officer and injured two others near the border town of Rafah in the restive Sinai Peninsula.

A security official says the Tuesday explosion hit a special police car assigned to detect explosive devices that failed to detect the bomb because it was hidden deep underground.

The official spoke on condition of anonymity because he is not authorized to brief the media.

Earlier this month, 11 police officials were killed in almost the same area by a roadside bomb detonated by remote control.

The Egyptian military, aided by police forces, is carrying out an offensive in the northern Sinai, a militant stronghold where it has killed and captured dozens of suspects in recent months.