(Photo armed forces handout)
Security forces and militants in Northern Sinai clashed as militants targeted at least three different security locations on Thursday morning.
Clashes have left at least 10 soldiers and two civilians dead, state-media reports said.
A military statement added that 15 militants were killed.
Nineteen security personnel and ten more civilians were also wounded when gunmen attacked the Sheikh Zuweid checkpoints, according to Ahram Online reports. The injured have been taken to a military hospital in Al-Arish.
Egypt’s Dar al-Iftaa “strongly condemned” the incident in a statement adding that “such terrorist acts are fobidden and sinful… they strip society of security.”
Military operations in North Sinai targeting militants aim “to ultimately eliminate terrorism” in the restive peninsula, where militants launch many attacks targeting security personnel and facilities.
The latest and largest of these attacks was on 29 January, when the Sinai-based militant group, “State of Sinai”, launched attacks in Al-Arish, Rafah and Sheikh Zuweid, targeting checkpoints and security facilities. The attacks left at least 30 Egyptian soldiers killed.
The group claimed the attacks via their official Twitter account, which has frequently been suspended.
Egyptian President Abdel Fattah Al-Sisi issued a decree on 1 February to form a new joint military command to “fight terrorism” east of the Suez Canal.
North Sinai has been witnessing a rising insurgency; residents of the area have previously told Daily News Egypt that dead civilians are “found daily.”
