(MENAFN- The Peninsula) CAIRO: At least 26 military personnel were reportedly killed or injured on Friday in what the Egyptian army described as a 'failed militant attack in Egypt's North Sinai province.
'Law enforcement forces in northern Sinai succeeded in foiling a terrorist attack carried out by extremist elements, read an army statement released midday Friday.
According to the army, at least 40 militants were killed -- and six of their vehicles destroyed -- after launching an attack on an army position in North Sinai.
The attackers did, however, manage to detonate a car bomb near an army checkpoint, according to the statement, leaving at least 26 security personnel either dead or injured.
A local security source told Anadolu Agency earlier that a senior army officer and nine army conscripts had been killed in the car bomb attack.
'Unidentified gunmen attacked a military barricade in the village of Al-Barth in the city of Rafah, the source, requesting anonymity as he was not authorized to speak to media, said.
Egypt's Sinai Peninsula has remained the epicenter of a deadly militant insurgency since mid-2013, when Mohamed Morsi, Egypt's first freely-elected president, was ousted in a bloody military coup.
Since then, hundreds of Egyptian security personnel have been killed in attacks across the volatile region, especially in northeastern Sinai, which shares borders with both Israel and the blockaded Gaza Strip.
The Egyptian authorities, for their part, say they are battling the Welayat Sinai ("Province of Sinai") group, which is alleged to have links with the IS terrorist organization.
MENAFN0807201700630000ID1095607409
Legal Disclaimer:
MENAFN provides the information “as is” without warranty of any kind. We do not accept any responsibility or liability for the accuracy, content, images, videos, licenses, completeness, legality, or reliability of the information contained in this article. If you have any complaints or copyright issues related to this article, kindly contact the provider above.