At least 30 people, mostly soldiers, were killed and at least 34 injured Thursday in attacks in northern Sinai, in the deadliest day for the Egyptian security forces for three months, officials security and medical sources said.
The main attack took place in Al-Arish, capital of North Sinai province, where 24 people, mostly soldiers, were killed. According to security officials, rockets were first fired at the headquarters of the police in the northern Sinai and on an adjacent military base before the explosion of a car bomb.
A few minutes later, the rocket hit a nearby residential complex, which houses the officers. The other Thursday’s attack in the northern Sinai took place at a military checkpoint in Rafah, on the border with the Gaza Strip, where a soldier was killed.
The attacks resulted in total at least 34 injured, including nine civilians, officials said. The onslaught of armed groups against the security forces have multiplied in Egypt since the dismissal in July 2013 by the army of Islamist President Mohamed Morsi, causing hundreds of deaths in their ranks.
The authorities have deployed many soldiers and police to fight the jihadists in Sinai. In late October, 30 soldiers were killed near Al-Arish in a suicide bombing followed an attack on a military commando camp, leading the Egyptian authorities to declare a state of emergency on part of Sinai, which has just been extended for three months.
The attack, the deadliest that targeted the army since the dismissal of Mr. Morsi, was claimed by Ansar Beit al-Maqdess, Senior Islamist insurgent group of Sinai, which has increased attacks and pledged allegiance to the group’s jihadists Islamic state (EI).
Armed groups say action in retaliation for the relentless repression against supporters of Morsi, which left at least 1,400 dead. Hundreds of Islamists have also been sentenced to death in mass trials expeditious and about 15,000 were imprisoned.
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