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At least 13 Egyptian security personnel killed in Islamist Sinai attacks
An Islamist terror group affiliated to ISIS carried out a series of attacks yesterday against Egyptian security forces in the northern Sinai Peninsula which borders Israel, killing at least 13 Egyptian soldiers and policemen.
A roadside bomb killed six soldiers, including two officers, in the town of Sheikh Zuweid, while later in the day a car bomb near the police station in El-Arish killed seven people and wounded more than 40 others. The explosion also caused heavy damage to the vicinity. Meanwhile, a third attack yesterday, by gunmen on a checkpoint near Rafah on the border with the Gaza Strip, wounded at least three soldiers.
An Egyptian army statement said that “terrorist and extremist elements” were responsible for yesterday’s attacks, which were later claimed by the ISIS-affiliated Islamist group Ansar Bayt al-Maqdis. Since the ousting of the Muslim Brotherhood in Egypt in 2013, Ansar has targeted the regime of President al-Sisi, persistently attacking Egyptian military forces in Sinai. In response, Egypt’s military has launched an ongoing offensive against the group, making parts of Sinai a closed military zone following a deadly attack in October.
Although the regime in Cairo has been the primary target for Ansar Bayt al-Maqdis, the group has also made clear that it is committed to attacking Israel. Just over a year ago, two rockets were fired by the group on Eilat, Israel’s southernmost city, also an important tourist resort and commercial port. The city came under fire last year too and its airport was closed last year as a precaution. Last August, Ansar broadcast that it had decapitated four Egyptians who it accused of spying for Israel.
The Egyptian authorities have long accused Hamas of aiding attacks in Sinai, especially as Hamas is a strong supporter of the Muslim Brotherhood. In recent months, Egyptian forces have destroyed numerous smuggling tunnels beneath the Gaza-Egypt border. Yesterday, Egypt amended its penal code to hand a life prison term to anyone found guilty of digging such tunnels.