CAIRO – Suspected Islamic State militants attacked a military checkpoint in Egypt’s restive northern Sinai region, killing 12 Egyptian soldiers and wounding six more, the Egyptian military said in a statement, adding that it had killed 15 gunmen in the clashes.
No group has asserted responsibility for the attack, but suspicion immediately fell on militants fighting for the Islamic State’s affiliate in the northern Sinai.
“An armed group of terrorist elements attacked a security checkpoint in North Sinai this morning using four-wheel drives and were immediately engaged,” the military said. “Our forces killed 15 terrorists.”
The military also added that the fighting led “to the martyrdom” of 12 of their “armed forces heroes” and that between six and eight were injured.
If confirmed, the assault represents one of the deadliest single attacks against the military this year, underscoring the lingering threat of the Islamic State in the Arab world’s largest nation, even as the group faces pressure in its primary battlegrounds of Iraq and Syria.
Friday’s clashes took place roughly 25 miles from the town of Bir al-Abd in the central Sinai, an area that has so far not been touched by the Islamic State’s insurgency.
Featured Image: Al-Manar TV
(c) 2016, The Washington Post · Sudarsan Raghavan
