Blasts hit two Egyptian Red Sea towns

Projectiles hit two Egyptian Red Sea towns yesterday, sources and officials said, injuring six people and showing the risk of regional spillover from the Israel-Gaza conflict.

Israel's military blamed an "aerial threat" in the Red Sea region: a possible reference to Yemen's Iran-backed Houthi movement which is known to use drones.

Egyptian army spokesperson Colonel Gharib Abdel-Hafez said an "unidentified drone" crashed into a building adjacent to a hospital injuring the six in Taba, on the border with Israel, in the early hours.

Later, another projectile fell near an electricity plant in a desert area of the town of Nuweiba about 70 km (43 miles) from the border, two Egyptian security sources told Reuters, adding that they were still gathering more information.

There was no claim of responsibility. Taba and Nuweiba, both in Egypt's Sinai Peninsula, are popular with tourists.