An Egyptian security lieutenant colonel and two conscripts were killed, while 10 other conscripts were injured on Tuesday in a roadside bomb attack on a vehicle affiliated to the security forces in the city of Al-Arish in North Sinai, security sources told Reuters.
The attack took place close to a checkpoint in Al-Arish where “Sinai Province” (previously known as Ansar Beit Al-Maqdis”, affiliated to the so-called Islamic State, is active. They launched several attacks on armed forces and security forces.
There has been no immediate claim of responsibility for the attack until now.
Meanwhile, the Egyptian Parliament approved on Tuesday the extension of a nationwide state of emergency for an additional three months, until the end of September, said Speaker of the House of Representatives Ali Abdul Aal.
In January, in the same checkpoint, a police officer, eight conscripts, and a civilian were killed, while 10 conscripts and 11 civilians were injured in a suicide attack at the ambulance checkpoint south Al-Arish.
Hundreds of Egyptian soldiers, police officers, and conscripts have been killed since 2013 when the Islamist former president Mohammed Morsi was ousted after mass protests.
Ansar Beit Al-Maqdis group declared its affiliation to the Islamic State (IS) group in 2014 and has since then launched deadly attacks on army and police checkpoints.
Throughout the last two years, the Egyptian armed forces launched counterattacks against militant stationing points across the Sinai Peninsula, where the group is based, particularly in the cities of Sheikh Zuweid, Rafah, and Al-Arish.
