Sinai attacks kill Egyptian policeman, wound 8

Cairo (AFP) - An Egyptian policeman was killed and eight wounded in three roadside bombings on Wednesday in the Sinai Peninsula where an Islamic State-linked group is spearheading an insurgency against security forces.

Jihadists have killed scores of police and soldiers in attacks in the peninsula since the army ousted Islamist president Mohamed Morsi in July 2013.

Wednesday's attacks targeted police vehicles near a police station in North Sinai's provincial capital of El-Arish, security officials said.

One explosion killed a policeman, and a total of eight were wounded in the three separate attacks.

The jihadist "Sinai Province", the Egyptian affiliate of the Islamic State group, has claimed several sophisticated attacks in Sinai and the Nile valley.

Ansar Beit al-Maqdis changed its name last year to "Sinai Province" after pledging allegiance to IS.

It seeks to establish a province of the self-declared IS "caliphate" straddling parts of Syria and Iraq and says the attacks are retaliation for a government crackdown on Morsi's supporters since his ouster.

Hundreds of Morsi supporters have been killed in the crackdown, while thousands more have been imprisoned.

Dozens have also been sentenced to death after speedy trials described by the United Nations as "unprecedented in recent history".