Read 2 minutesAt least 30 people were killed when Islamist militants attacked several checkpoints in Egypt’s North Sinai on Wednesday, security and medical sources said, in one of the biggest coordinated assaults yet in the insurgency-hit province. Islamic State’s Egyptian affiliate, Sinai Province, claimed responsibility for the attacks in a statement on Twitter.
It was second high-profile action in Egypt this week. On Monday, the prosecutor-general was killed in a car bombing in Cairo, raising questions about the government’s ability to contain the insurgency. The army said five checkpoints were attacked by about 70 militants and that soldiers had destroyed three landcruisers fitted with anti-aircraft guns. Security sources said militants were surrounding a police station in the town of Sheikh Zuweid and had planted bombs around it to prevent forces from leaving.
The Associated Press reports about a number of Egyptian soldiers taken hostage by North Sinai militants are difficult to confirm, given the difficulty of contacting the troops on the battlefield, Sinai security sources told Al-Masry Al-Youm. The sources, however, said that militants might have seized two armoured vehicles and ammunition on the scene of the clashes, according to unconfirmed information.
Dozens of soldiers were killed in an exchange of fire between the army and police forces on one side and the militants on the other. There have been conflicting reports about the total death toll, with Skynews Arabia reporting 60 deaths among the Armed Forces.
Egypt’s army spokesperson Mohamed Samir said that 10 soldiers had died, with 22 dead among the attackers, while AFP counted 15 deaths, citing security sources. Al-Masry Al-Youm put the number at 30 soldiers, quoting medical sources.
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