Suicide bomber kills soldier in Egypt's Sinai, second blast wounds three

CAIRO (Reuters) - A suicide bomber killed himself and a soldier at a security checkpoint in Egypt's South Sinai on Friday, and a second bomb attack in the same area wounded at least three, official sources said.

The fatal attack occurred in El-Tur, a town on the main road between Cairo and the tourist resort of Sharm El-Sheikh. Three other members of the police and one soldier were injured, according to an Interior Ministry statement posted on Facebook.

At least three Egyptians were wounded in the second attack, further south on the road between El-Tur and Sharm El-Sheikh, which targeted a bus transporting workers for the tourist industry, security sources said.

The governor of South Sinai province also identified those wounded as employees of a tourism company. The Interior Ministry referred to them as factory workers and to the bomber in the second incident as a "suicide attacker".

Militant attacks in Egypt have spiralled since the army deposed Mohamed Mursi of the Muslim Brotherhood last July.

While most of the attacks have targeted the security forces, three South Koreans were killed in February when a bomb targeted a tourist bus in South Sinai near a border crossing with Israel.

The army has been waging a campaign against armed Islamist groups in North Sinai. The influence of such groups expanded in North Sinai after the 2011 uprising that toppled Hosni Mubarak from the presidency.

(Reporting by Tom Perry and Shadia Nasralla; Editing by John Stonestreet)