Shady Egyptian militant group claims Tanta motorcycle-bomb attack

An Islamist militant group has claimed responsibility for a bombing that wounded 16 people outside an Egyptian police training centre in the Nile Delta city of Tanta on Saturday.

In a statement posted on its social media account shortly after the attack, Lewaa al-Thawra ["The Revolution Brigade"] said it would post a video of the operation "in due course".

According to the interior ministry, the booby-trapped motorcycle explosion wounded 13 policemen and three civilian. Five of the injured are said to be in critical condition.

"The bomb was planted in a motorcycle parked near the centre and the area has been cordoned off and is being combed by security forces," the ministry said in a statement.

Lewaa al-Thawra has claimed responsibility for several attacks on security forces in recent months.

The group said it had murdered a high-ranking army officer outside his home near Cairo in October 2016.

It also claimed responsibility for an August attack on a security checkpoint in Menoufiya governorate, where two policemen were killed and five were injured.

Earlier this week, the group released footage condoling four of its "martyrs" and pledging to continue its operations in Egypt.

Egypt has been battling a growing Islamist insurgency since the military overthrow of Islamist president Mohamed Morsi in 2013, with hundreds of security personnel killed in the crossfire.

The majority of the Islamist militant attacks are carried out in Cairo and the Sinai Peninsula.