EL-ARISH, Egypt (AP) — Islamic militants on Wednesday unleashed a
wave of simultaneous attacks, including suicide car bombings, on
Egyptian army checkpoints in the restive northern Sinai Peninsula,
killing at least 50 soldiers, security and military officials said.
The
coordinated morning assaults in Sinai came a day after Egypt's
president pledged to step up the battle against Islamic militants and
two days after the country's state prosecutor was assassinated in the
capital, Cairo.
The scope and intensity of the attacks underscored
the resilience and advanced planning by the militants who have for
years battled Egyptian security forces in northern Sinai but intensified
their insurgency over the past two years just as the government threw
more resources into the drawn-out fight.
An Islamic State affiliate in Egypt claimed responsibility for
Wednesday's attacks, saying its fighters targeted a total of 15 army and
police positions and staged three suicide bombings, two of which
targeted checkpoints and one that hit an officers' club in the nearby
city of el-Arish.
The authenticity of the claim could not be immediately verified but it was posted on a Facebook page associated with the group.
Except
for the attack at the officers' club, the rest took place in the town
of Sheikh Zuweid and targeted at least six military checkpoints, the
officials said. The militants also took soldiers captive and seized
weapons and several armored vehicles, they added, speaking on condition
of anonymity in line with regulations.
At least 55 soldiers were
wounded, the officials also said. As fighting raged, an army Apache
gunship destroyed one of the armored carriers captured by the militants
as they were driving it away, the officials added.
Egypt's
military spokesman, Brig. Gen. Mohammed Samir, said clashes were still
underway in the area between the armed forces and the militants. His
statement put the number of soldiers killed so far at 10, but the
conflicting numbers could not immediately be reconciled in the immediate
aftermath of a major attack.
Samir's statement, posted on his
official Facebook page, said some 70 militants attacked five checkpoints
in northern Sinai and that Egyptian troops killed 22 of them and
destroyed three all-terrain vehicles fitted with anti-aircraft guns.
The fighting stretched into the mid-afternoon in what appeared to be the most intense clashes the peninsula has seen in decades.
The
officials said scores of militants were besieging Sheikh Zuweid's main
police station, shelling it with mortars and rocket-propelled grenades
and exchanging fire with dozens of policemen inside.
Northern
Sinai has over the past two years witnessed a series of complex and
successful attacks targeting Egyptian security forces, many of which
have been claimed by a local affiliate of the Islamic State group.
Two
of the six checkpoints attacked Wednesday were completely destroyed,
the officials said. Army checkpoints in the area routinely have between
50 and 60 soldiers. The IS statement said the two checkpoints were hit
by suicide bombers.
The attacks came just two days after the
assassination in Cairo of the country's top prosecutor, Hisham Barakat,
and one day after President Abdel-Fattah el-Sissi vowed to step up a
two-year crackdown on militants.
Last week, Islamic State
spokesman Abu Mohammed al-Adnani called in an audio message on IS
followers to launch massive attacks during the Muslim holy month of
Ramadan, which is now entering its third week.
Militants in
northern Sinai, which borders Israel and the Gaza Strip, have battled
security forces for years but stepped up their attacks following the
July 2013 military ouster of Islamist President Mohammed Morsi after
days of mass street protests against his rule.
El-Sissi, then the
nation's army chief, led the ouster and went to become Egypt's
president, winning a landslide election a year ago on a ticket that
emphasized security and economic recovery.
Wednesday's attacks
came in swift response to el-Sissi's pledge the previous day to carry
out justice for the prosecutor general's assassination — and possibly
move to execute Muslim Brotherhood leaders, an Islamist group from which
Morsi hails.
Pounding his fist as he spoke Tuesday at the funeral
of Barakat, who led the prosecution and oversaw scores of cases against
thousands of Islamists, el-Sissi's comments seemed to signal an even
tougher campaign on the Brotherhood, Egypt's oldest Islamist group that
is now outlawed and declared a terrorist organization.
Egypt has
since Morsi's ouster waged a crackdown that has led to thousands of
arrests, mass convictions and death sentences. Morsi is among those
condemned to die, but has a potentially lengthy appeal process ahead of
him.
El-Sissi said the government was ready to brush aside
criticisms and free the judiciary's hand for a "battle" the country is
prepared to wage.
Though el-Sissi's crackdown on Islamists has
been criticized by rights groups, activists, and some Egyptians, the
majority of the population has supported his battle against the
insurgency in Sinai.
"The judiciary is restricted by laws, and
swift justice is also restricted by laws. We will not wait for that,"
el-Sissi said on Tuesday.
Action will be taken within days "to
enable us to execute the law, and bring justice as soon as possible," he
added. "We will stand in the face of the whole world, and fight the
whole world."
In a thinly veiled reference to jailed members of
the Brotherhood, el-Sissi blamed the violence on those "issuing orders
from behind bars," and warned: "If there is a death sentence, it will be
carried out."
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2015/07/01/egypt-army-checkpoints-attacked_n_7703104.html
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