At Least 26 Killed, More Than 100 Wounded in North Sinai Rocket Attack
Ahram Online
Friday 30 Jan 2015
At least 26 people, including civilians, were killed Thursday when a series of militant attacks, involving "car bombs" and mortar rounds, struck several army and police positions in Egypt's volatile Sinai Peninsula, medical and security sources said.
A source in the local ambulance services said that 105 have been injured in the attacks in the town of Al-Arish, in North Sinai, where the army is battling an Islamist insurgency that has spiked since the 2013 ouster of Islamist president Mohamed Morsi.
Suspected militants fired mortar rounds and used "car bombs" in the consecutive attacks that targeted the headquarters of the North Sinai security directorate in the provincial capital of Al-Arish, a nearby army base, a hotel and several security checkpoints, state TV and the Ahram Arabic news website reported.
ًWalls of surrounding buildings were cracked and windows were smashed, as troops combed the area in search of suspects.
The office of Al-Ahram in Al-Arish, located near the targeted police building, was slightly damaged in the attack, office head Ahmed Selim said.
The building was vacant during the time of the attack due to a dusk-to-dawn curfew imposed in North Sinai late in October, following deadly militant attacks that killed 31 soldiers earlier in the month, the worst violence on Egyptian troops in recent times.
One army personnel was killed and another wounded in a separate attack on a security checkpoint in the North Sinai town of Rafah.
The military said in a statement that the violence came in response to the "successful" security campaign against militants in the restive province, without elaborating on the death or injury toll.
Egypt's army has struggled to crush the militant insurgency in the peninsula, which has at times expanded to mainland cities, including Cairo.
Militants have mainly targeted police and troops, killing hundreds in the past 18 months.
Egypt's most active Jihadist group Ansar Beit Al-Maqdis, based in Sinai, has claimed some of the deadliest attacks. The group in November pledged allegiance to the Islamic State, which has seized swathes of Syria and Iraq.
The violence has prompted the army to demolish houses and clear residents in the North Sinai border city of Rafah to set up a buffer zone aimed at deterring militant infiltration and arms smuggling.
http://english.ahram.org.eg/News/121728.aspx
Friday 30 Jan 2015
At least 26 people, including civilians, were killed Thursday when a series of militant attacks, involving "car bombs" and mortar rounds, struck several army and police positions in Egypt's volatile Sinai Peninsula, medical and security sources said.
A source in the local ambulance services said that 105 have been injured in the attacks in the town of Al-Arish, in North Sinai, where the army is battling an Islamist insurgency that has spiked since the 2013 ouster of Islamist president Mohamed Morsi.
Suspected militants fired mortar rounds and used "car bombs" in the consecutive attacks that targeted the headquarters of the North Sinai security directorate in the provincial capital of Al-Arish, a nearby army base, a hotel and several security checkpoints, state TV and the Ahram Arabic news website reported.
ًWalls of surrounding buildings were cracked and windows were smashed, as troops combed the area in search of suspects.
The office of Al-Ahram in Al-Arish, located near the targeted police building, was slightly damaged in the attack, office head Ahmed Selim said.
The building was vacant during the time of the attack due to a dusk-to-dawn curfew imposed in North Sinai late in October, following deadly militant attacks that killed 31 soldiers earlier in the month, the worst violence on Egyptian troops in recent times.
One army personnel was killed and another wounded in a separate attack on a security checkpoint in the North Sinai town of Rafah.
The military said in a statement that the violence came in response to the "successful" security campaign against militants in the restive province, without elaborating on the death or injury toll.
Egypt's army has struggled to crush the militant insurgency in the peninsula, which has at times expanded to mainland cities, including Cairo.
Militants have mainly targeted police and troops, killing hundreds in the past 18 months.
Egypt's most active Jihadist group Ansar Beit Al-Maqdis, based in Sinai, has claimed some of the deadliest attacks. The group in November pledged allegiance to the Islamic State, which has seized swathes of Syria and Iraq.
The violence has prompted the army to demolish houses and clear residents in the North Sinai border city of Rafah to set up a buffer zone aimed at deterring militant infiltration and arms smuggling.
http://english.ahram.org.eg/News/121728.aspx
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