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Egypt: Militant Attack Kills 5 in Sinai08/01 09:36
CAIRO (AP) -- Islamic Sate group militants ambushed a checkpoint in the
restive northern part of Egypt's Sinai Peninsula on Saturday, killing at least
five troops from the security forces, officials said.
At least six other troops were wounded in the attack in the town of Sheikh
Zuweid and taken to a military hospital in the Mediterranean city of el-Arish,
they said.
Security personnel killed three militants in the firefight, and the area was
reinforced, the officials added, speaking on condition of anonymity because
they were not authorized to brief the media.
Egypt has been battling militants in the northern part of Sinai Peninsula
for years. Violence and instability there intensified after the 2013 military
ouster of Mohammed Morsi, an elected but divisive Islamist president, amid
nationwide protests against his brief rule.
The militants carried out numerous attacks, mainly targeting security
forces, minority Christians and those who they accuse of collaborating with the
military and police.
The pace of IS attacks in Sinai's main theater and elsewhere has slowed to a
trickle since February 2018, when the military launched a massive operation in
Sinai as well as parts of the Nile Delta and deserts along the country's
western border with Libya.
The fight against militants in Sinai has largely taken place hidden from the
public eye, with journalists, non-residents and outside observers barred from
the area. The conflict has also been kept at a distance from tourist resorts at
the southern end of the peninsula.
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