8 Egypt sailors missing as terror strikes port

(MENAFN- Arab News) CAIRO: An Egyptian Army spokesman says eight sailors are missing after an assault by 'terrorist elements' on a navy patrol boat off one of the country's Mediterranean ports.

Brig. Gen. Mohammed Samir said in a statement on his official Facebook page early on Thursday that four assault boats were destroyed and that 32 attackers were arrested. Five troops were also wounded in the attack.

The military which said late Wednesday it was still conducting search and rescue operations for those missing has called the incident a 'terrorist' attack.

But the identities and goals of the assailants remained unknown a day later.

A security official said that dozens of suspects rounded up at sea after the assault were still being interrogated.

It was not immediately clear whether they were 'terrorists' or drug and weapons smugglers who use that part of the sea he said.

Four boats used by the assailants were destroyed according to the military.

State-owned Ahram newspaper reported that a naval patrol approached three boats which aroused suspicion and it came under fire citing an anonymous source saying they were most likely smugglers.

It added that a protest later erupted in a Damietta village after reports that the military arrested fishermen at sea following the exchange of fire.

Meanwhile militants shot dead five Egyptian conscripts in the Sinai Peninsula on Thursday.

The military carried out air strikes in Sinai killing three members of the militant group Ansar Beit Al-Maqdis security officials said.

The attacks in Sinai in which two police conscripts and three soldiers were taken out of their vehicles and shot dead bore the hallmarks of Ansar Beit Al-Maqdis which often sets up impromptu checkpoints in the lawless peninsula.