CAIRO: Militants shot dead five Egyptian conscripts in the Sinai Peninsula on Thursday.

The military carried out air strikes in Sinai, killing three members of the Islamist militant group Ansar Beit al Maqdis.

Egypt has been hit by a wave of attacks since the army overthrew president Mohamed Morsi last year, infuriating his supporters.

In Cairo, 16 people were injured on Thursday in a panicked crush on a Cairo metro train after a small bomb exploded during rush hour.

The attacks in Sinai, in which two police conscripts and three soldiers were taken out of their vehicles and shot dead, bore the hallmarks of Ansar Beit al Maqdis, which often sets up impromptu checkpoints in the lawless peninsula.—AFP

Published in Dawn, November 14th, 2014