24-04-2024 09:38 PM Jerusalem Timing

Egypt Attacks in Sinai Leave Four Security Forces Dead

Egypt Attacks in Sinai Leave Four Security Forces Dead

Two Egyptian policemen and two soldiers were killed on Sunday in two bombing attacks in the country’s restive Sinai Peninsula.

Two Egyptian policemen and two soldiers were killed on Sunday in two bombing attacks in the country's restive Sinai Peninsula, where Takfiri group, ISIL (so-called Islamic State in Iraq and Levant) have regularly attacked security forces.

In one attack at dawn, a remotely-detonated bomb hit a police vehicle as security forces were carrying out a search operation in the Rafah region, on the border with the Gaza Strip, killing two policemen, officials said.

An army officer and a soldier were also killed in a similar attack in the Sheikh Zuwaid region of northern Sinai, the officials added.

There was no immediate claim of responsibility but the region is an ISIL stronghold.

Extremists have regularly attacked security forces in the peninsula since the army ousted Islamist president Mohammad Mursi in July 2013.

They say their attacks are in retaliation for a government crackdown targeting Mursi supporters that has left hundreds dead and thousands imprisoned.

The authorities say hundreds of policemen and soldiers have been killed in attacks, mainly in North Sinai, since 2013.

Egypt's branch of ISIL also said it planted a bomb that caused the crash of a Russian airliner in the Sinai in October, killing all 224 people on board.