CAIRO, Sept. 11 (Xinhua) -- Death toll of Monday's anti-police terror attack in the city of Arish in Egypt's North Sinai province had climbed to 18, state-run Ahram newspaper reported.
According to Ahram, the car bombing that targeted a security patrol in Arish city earlier in the day has so far caused the death of 18, including policemen and civilians.
Ahram reported earlier that nine policemen died in the attack.
Three terrorists were also killed in fire exchange with police right after the blast, a security source was quoted as saying.
Earlier on Monday, Egyptian Interior Ministry announced that a police patrol was targeted with a car loaded with explosives, adding that more backup forces had been sent to the scene.
Egypt has been fighting against a wave of terror activities that killed hundreds of policemen and soldiers since the military toppled former Islamist president Mohamed Morsi in July 2013 in response to mass protests against his one-year rule and his currently outlawed Muslim Brotherhood group.
Terror attacks in Egypt used to focus on police and military men in North Sinai before spreading nationwide and targeting the Coptic minority as well, with most of them claimed by a Sinai-based group loyal to the regional Islamic State (IS) militant group.
The Egyptian military and police have killed hundreds of militants and arrested a similar number of suspects as part of the country's anti-terror war.
