Egypt police kill man suspected of involvement in attack on Sinai’s St Catherine

A man suspected of involvement in a deadly attack on Tuesday night on a security checkpoint near South Sinai’s St Catherine Monastery has been killed on Wednesday by Egyptian security forces, a security source told Al-Ahram Arabic news website on Wednesday.

According to the source, South Sinai’s security directorate was informed by Bedouin Sheikhs in the area that the suspect was attempting to sneak into Central Sinai after hiding in a mountainous region in the area.

According to security sources, the attacker was found with posters supporting the Islamic State (IS) militant group, which has declared responsibility for the Tuesday attack.

On Tuesday, a policeman was killed and four others were injured after gunmen attacked the security checkpoint on a road leading up to the St Catherine Monastery near the summit of Mount Sinai.

The ministry said police forces engaged in a shootout with the gunmen, forcing them to flee. Security forces started conducting an intensive search for the assailants immediately after the attack.

The attack near the Saint Catherine monastery, which is one of the world’s oldest Christian monasteries and a major tourist attraction in South Sinai, comes two weeks after the bombings of Coptic Orthodox churches in Alexandria and Tanta killed over 47 people.

The Islamic State group has declared responsibility for the attacks on the churches and previous deadly attacks on security forces in North Sinai.

Source: Ahram online