Egypt's military said there was a clash at a checkpoint Saturday between suspected jihadists and the military on the Sinai Peninsula. 

 

 A military spokesman told AFP in a statement that seven militants were killed in the attack in the restive North Sinai, while 15 soldiers were either killed or wounded.

Army spokesman Tamer el-Refai said in the statement that "an officer and 14 non-commissioned soldiers were killed or wounded." He did give an exact number for the death toll. 

 

 El-Refai said security forces would go after "the terrorist elements to eliminate them." </s> EL-ARISH, Egypt — Egyptian security and medical officials say suspected Islamic militants have attacked an army checkpoint in the Sinai Peninsula, killing 12 soldiers.

The officials say the Friday attack about 80 (50 miles) east of the Suez Canal wounded another eight soldiers. They had no word on casualties among the militants.

The officials spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to speak to the media.

Egypt has for years battled militants in Sinai, but the insurgency has grown deadlier and spread into the mainland since the 2013 ouster of an elected Islamist president. The militants are now led by a local affiliate of the Islamic State group.

There has been a recent surge in attacks in Sinai, but attacks elsewhere in Egypt have declined. </s> EL-ARISH, Egypt (AP) — Militants attacked three police checkpoints in the restive northern Sinai Peninsula late Tuesday, killing at least six policemen and wounding eight other officers, security officials said.

The officials said at least four militants were killed, including a suicide bomber who set off his explosives at one of the checkpoints attacked in the coastal city of al-Arish late Tuesday. The officials agreed to provide the details only if not quoted by name because they were not authorized to brief the media.

No group claimed responsibility for the attacks, although they bore the hallmarks of the Islamic State group.

Egypt's government has been battling Islamist militants centered in northern Sinai. The insurgency intensified after the military ousted an elected but divisive Islamist president amid mass protests in 2013. </s> CAIRO (Reuters) - Seven Egyptian police officers and four militants were killed in a clash in the north of the Sinai Peninsula, the interior ministry said on Wednesday.

The clash took place late on Tuesday when militants attacked forces stationed southwest of the city of Arish, the ministry said in a statement.

Islamic State claimed the attack, saying it had carried out simultaneous raids on military positions in Arish, according to a statement carried on the group’s Amaq news agency.

Security sources said the militants had used more than 10 four-wheel vehicles in coordinated attacks at four sites.

Egyptian security forces have been battling Islamist militants in the Sinai Peninsula for years and launched a counter-insurgency campaign in the area in February 2018.

Earlier this month militants attacked a checkpoint in North Sinai, an assault that left eight security personnel dead according to the interior ministry. </s> Eight Egyptian soldiers and 14 militants are reported to have been killed in fighting in central Sinai on April 14.

An army statement said the militants, some carrying explosive belts and grenades, attacked a military checkpoint at around dawn.

Four of them detonated their explosive belts, killing the soldiers and wounding 15 others, the army statement added.

The attack was the largest against Egyptian security forces since President Abdel el-Sisi won a second term in office last month.

It also came just hours after the country extended a state of emergency imposed last year.

Based on reporting by AFP and Reuters </s> The Latest on the attack in Egypt’s Sinai Peninsula (all times local):

Egyptian security officials have raised the toll from a blitz attack by Islamic militants in Sinai to 23 soldiers killed and 33 wounded, making it one of the deadliest attacks in the volatile peninsula this year.

Officials say that the militants unleashed a suicide car bomb and heavy gunfire on an Egyptian military checkpoint in northeastern Sinai Peninsula on Friday morning.

The officials initially put the death toll at 10. They later told The Associated Press that more bodies were retrieved from the rubble of a demolished building at the site.

The attack took place in the village of el-Barth just south of the town of Rafah. The officials say five officers are among those killed, including a high-ranking special forces officer, Col. Ahmed el-Mansi.

The officials spoke on condition of anonymity because they aren’t authorized to speak to the media.

Egyptian officials say at least 10 security troops have been killed when a car bomb struck a military checkpoint followed by heavy gunfire in northeastern Sinai Peninsula.

The officials say that the Friday attack started when a suicide car bomber rammed his vehicle into the checkpoint in southern Rafah village of el-Barth, followed by heavy shooting by dozens of masked militants on foot. The dead included a high ranking special forces officer and at least 20 others were wounded in the attack.

The officials spoke on condition of anonymity because they weren’t authorized to speak to the media. No group immediately claimed responsibility for the attack.

Egypt has in recent years been battling a stepped-up insurgency in northern Sinai, mainly by militants from an Islamic State group affiliate. </s> CAIRO (Reuters) - Seven militants were killed and 15 Egyptian military personnel were killed or wounded in a clash in North Sinai on Saturday, the Egyptian military said.

The breakdown of military casualties was not immediately clear. However, two security sources told Reuters that the some of the injuries were serious.

Security forces launched a campaign a year ago against Islamist militants focused on Egypt’s Sinai peninsula, and say they have killed several hundred militants since then.

“Combing operations and the pursuit and elimination of the terrorist elements in the area where the incident took place is ongoing,” the military spokesman said in a statement.

The security sources said operations were taking place under aerial cover.

Since 2013, Egyptian security forces have battled Islamist militants, who have repeatedly targeted security checkpoints and Egypt’s Christian minority. </s> Militants have ambushed a police convoy in Egypt’s Sinai Peninsula, killing 18 people and wounding seven others, according to officials.

It is the deadliest attack in the turbulent region in months.

The attack began with the detonation of roadside bombs that destroyed and set ablaze four armoured vehicles and a fifth one carrying signal-jamming equipment, police and military officials said.

The gunmen later opened fire with machine guns and commandeered a police pick-up truck.

Among those killed were two police lieutenants. The wounded included a police brigadier general.

The attack took place about 30 kilometres (nearly 19 miles) west of el-Arish in northern Sinai, the epicentre of a long-running insurgency now led by the extremist Islamic State group.

The officials had earlier put the death toll at five and said the convoy included three armoured vehicles.

Monday’s attack was the deadliest against security forces since July, when IS militants attacked a remote army outpost in the border town of Rafah, killing 23 soldiers.

That was the deadliest attack in two years.

In March, the military said militants killed 10 soldiers during an army raid in Sinai’s central region.

Egypt has battled militants in Sinai for years, but the insurgency became far more deadly after the 2013 military ousting of Mohammed Morsi, an elected Islamist president.

In recent years there has also been a wave of attacks, mainly targeting security forces, blamed on a splinter faction of Mr Morsi’s Muslim Brotherhood group.

Monday’s attack came a day after authorities said they had busted a militant cell planning attacks in Cairo.

Police said they killed 10 militants in two simultaneous raids on apartments in a densely populated Cairo neighbourhood.

They said the militants sneaked into the capital from northern Sinai. </s> Story highlights Assailants attacked the checkpoint using four-wheel drive vehicles

Egyptian military officials are sweeping the area for remains of the militant group

(CNN) An attack by "armed terrorists" on a security checkpoint in the northern half of the Sinai Peninsula on Friday has left a dozen military personnel dead, according to Egypt's military. Fifteen terrorists also died in the attack.

The assailants attacked the checkpoint using four-wheel drive vehicles, the military said in a statement. Egyptian military officials are sweeping the area for remains of the militant group.

This is the latest attack in a battle for control over the Sinai Peninsula between Islamist militants and the Egyptian military. The militants have been waging an insurgency against the military since the army toppled President Mohammed Morsi of the Muslim Brotherhood in 2013.
Militants attacked an army checkpoint in Sinai Peninsula killing and injuring 15. It is believed that 11 were killed but that has not been confirmed. Seven militants also died in the attack.