A RADICAL Islamist group said yesterday it had carried out two suicide bombings which killed a soldier and wounded at least eight other people near the Egyptian tourist city of Sharm El-Sheikh on Friday.

Ansar Bayt al-Maqdis, the most active of the militant groups waging an insurgency against the army-backed government since it deposed elected leader Mohamed Mursi last summer, made the claim in a statement posted online.

"We announce our responsibility for the attacks which targeted a security checkpoint and a tourist bus in South Sinai," the statement said. "We will not rest ... until we avenge Muslims' blood and honour."

Militant attacks and other political violence have intensified since the army overthrew Mursi last July following mass protests against his rule.