A low-ranking police officer was killed Sunday night in an explosion caused by an improvised explosive device (IED) that targeted their armoured vehicle in Al-Arish city in North Sinai, according to the Ministry of Interior.
Another low-ranking police officer was injured in the bombing and is hospitalised. One civilian also sustained injuries.
The media office of the ministry said security forces are intensifying their efforts to find the perpetrators. Explosive experts have been investigating the scene, while no militant group has declared responsibility for the attack so far.
The officer received a military funeral in his hometown of Daqahleya.
Active militant groups in the region often use IEDs to execute attacks on army and police checkpoints across cities in North Sinai. The attacks by militants against police and army forces have become an almost daily occurrence. It is believed that the attackers are members of the Islamic State-affiliated group “Sinai Province”. These attacks mainly target army and police checkpoints in different areas of North Sinai.
“Sinai Province” considers all police and army members apostates to Islam and believes they should be killed.
In 2016, army forces killed hundreds of militants in the area, while dozens of military and police personnel lost their lives in process.
In 2014, the Egyptian Armed Forces launched a counter-insurgency campaign targeting militants in North Sinai. The violence in the area still represents a chronic headache for the current regime.
Since 2013, following the ouster of Islamist president Mohamed Morsi, “Sinai Province” has launched dozens of deadly attacks against army stationing points.
A state of emergency was first declared over North Sinai by interim president Adly Mansour, who came into power following Morsi. It was last extended in January 2016.
