A police officer and conscript were killed on Saturday morning by an improvised explosive device (IED) that targeted their armoured vehicle that was carrying out an operation to detect IEDs near the North Sinai city of Al-Arish.
The explosion also left a police conscript injured.
The operation being carried out by the security forces was aimed at detecting and dismantling IEDs planted by militants alongside the Al-Arish-Al-Qantra highway, a North Sinai based journalist told Daily News Egypt on condition of anonymity.
The police officers that were killed in the attack were transferred to Al-Arish military hospital.
The IED targeting security personnel in Sinai were believed to be planted by the IS-affiliated group “Sinai Province”. The group has launched a series of attacks over the years against army and police stationing points.
The group has also engaged in acts of terrorism against the local residents of the tumultuous North Sinai cities of Rafah, Sheikh Zuwaid, and Al-Arish. A number of local residents have been kidnapped after being suspected of collaborating with the army.
On a frequent basis, the group declares responsibility for killing civilians in the streets of Al-Arish. On Thursday, anonymous militants opened fire against an elderly man who was walking with his wife in the centre part of Al-Arish, a local resident told Daily News Egypt Saturday on condition of anonymity.
The 55-year-old man, named Mosad Abdel Samed Abdel Hamid, is originally from the Delta region of Sharqeya governorate. He was subjected to heavy shooting from anonymous militants in front of his wife.
The anonymous militants are believed to be from “Sinai Province”.
The Interior Ministry has not publish any details on the incident and were not reachable for comment.
Since 2013, state security forces represented in both the army and police, have been engaged in violent clashes with “Sinai Province”, known previously as Ansar Beit Al-Maqdis. In 2014, the group declared its affiliation to IS and has launched deadly attacks on army and police checkpoints.
