Six Killed In Militant Attacks In Egypt’s Sinai

Six Egyptians were killed and 11 others wounded in several attacks by militants in the Sinai peninsula near Egypt’s borders with Israel and the Palestinian Gaza strip, medical sources said on Monday.

Two civilians, two army officers and two policemen were killed in at least 10 attacks in the province’s main northern cities of Rafah and El-Arish overnight against police stations and security and army checkpoints, according to the sources.

The latest violence there was the worst so far this month in terms of the number of attacks and victims in a single day.

The lawless North Sinai region is a base for hardline Islamists who in the last two years have stepped up their attacks on security forces, exploiting a vacuum following the 2011 uprising that ousted President Hosni Mubarak.

The violence spiked after the army’s overthrow of elected Islamist president Mohamed Mursi on July 3. Militants have since attacked several security checkpoints and other targets almost daily, killing at least 20 people.

Source : Ahram