Bomb blast in Egypt tourist town Aswan kills two: Police

Cairo: A bomb blast killed two people Sunday in Aswan, the first such attack in the Egyptian tourist town since a wave of violence following the 2013 ouster of Islamist president Mohamed Morsi, police said.

The explosion, caused by a device placed near a police station in the southern town, also wounded five people including a policeman, according to the same source.

Aswan is one of two main tourist towns in Upper Egypt, along with Luxor.

Egypt has been hit by a wave of bombings and shootings since the military ousted Morsi in July 2013.

Most of the violence has targeted the Sinai Peninsula, where the army has deployed troops and armour to fight an Islamist insurgency, but it has also hit the capital and northern Egypt.

Most attacks are spearheaded by Ansar Beit al-Maqdis (Partisans of Jerusalem), the Egyptian affiliate of the Islamic State jihadist group that has seized territory in Syria and Iraq.

It says the attacks are in retaliation for a brutal government crackdown against Morsi supporters that has left hundreds dead and thousands jailed.

The army said Sunday that at least 172 militants were killed in February in joint police and military operations in the Sinai.