Egypt

Update: Egypt denies Eilat missile attack came from Sinai

Israeli security forces have not found any trace of Grad rockets being fired at Eilat, after two explosions were heard in the southern resort city Wednesday evening, DPA has reported Israeli police as saying.

"The Israeli army began to comb the region, in the wake of the two blasts, to ascertain whether these two blasts resulted from a missile attack," said the website of Israeli newspaper Yedioth Ahronoth.

Israeli police said they have received numerous phone calls from residents saying they heard blasts in the city, according to Thursday's DPA story.

An Egyptian security source on Thursday denied Israeli media reports that the reported missiles came from Sinai. The source stressed that it would be impossible for a rocket to be fired, especially since the Armed Forces has now increased its presence at Sinai's border with the Gaza Strip and Israel.

Military and police forces have carried out security operations against alleged terrorist groups in Sinai over the last two weeks, following a militant attack near Rafah on 5 August that killed 16 Egyptian border guards and wounded a few others.

Two months ago, militants in Egypt's Sinai Peninsula fired two rockets at Eilat, though no one was reported injured.

Yedioth Ahronoth pointed out that nearly two months ago, the remains of a Grad rocket were found a few kilometers north of Eilat. Militant groups in Gaza often use Grad rockets when they attack Israel.

According to Israeli authorities, that missile firing was the first from Sinai since the fall of former Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak in February 2011.

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