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4 soldiers killed, 12 injured in Egypt's Sinai blast

Xinhua, January 28, 2016 Adjust font size:

At least four military men were killed and 12 others injured on Wednesday in a blast that targeted their armored vehicle in Arish city of Egypt's restive North Sinai province, state-run Al-Ahram news website reported.

A security source told Xinhua that the four victims include a colonel and three recruits and that the armored vehicle was targeted by a remotely-controlled explosive device during a patrol on a main highway.

"The twelve wounded have been taken to nearby Arsih military hospital and they are in a critical condition," the source added.

According to the source, an air raid killed 20 militants and wounded 15 others also on Wednesday at their hideouts near Arish International Airport while a massive terrorist cell was moving from southern Arish northwards to carry out terror activities.

Terrorist activities killed hundreds of policemen and soldiers since the army ousted former Islamist President Mohamed Morsi in July 2013 in response to mass protests against his one-year rule.

On Sunday, militants on three motorbikes gunned down two policemen and a civilian and wounded four others at a checkpoint in the Delta province of Sharqiya north of the capital Cairo.

Earlier on Thursday, at least seven police officers and three civilians were killed and several others injured in a massive explosion that took place after the police broke into an apartment used by militants for making explosive devices.

Sinai-based Ansar Bayt al-Maqdis (ABM) militant group, which has changed its name to "Sinai State" and vowed loyalty to the regional Islamic State (IS) militant group, claimed responsibility for most of the anti-government attacks in the country.

The security forces have been launching massive anti-terror operations in North Sinai that left hundreds of militants killed and a similar number of suspects arrested.

The security raids in Sinai are part of the country's "war against terrorism" declared by then-military chief and now President Abdel-Fattah al-Sisi following Morsi's removal. Endit