Egyptian officer, 3 soldiers killed in Sinai blast

An Egyptian officer and three soldiers were killed on Tuesday in an explosion targeting their vehicle in the restive north Sinai peninsula.

The blast, which also injured four others, is suspected to have been caused by an IED planted by terrorist groups operating in the area, unnamed Egyptian military sources told Al-Jazeera.

Early reports say that the soldiers were traveling in an armored vehicle when they were targeted in the city of Rafah, which is adjacent to the Gaza Strip.

The injured soldiers were evacuated to El-Arish military hospital for emergency treatment.

Over the past two years, IS’s presence in Egypt, Wilayat Sinaa (formerly known as Ansar Bayt al-Maqdis), has claimed responsibility for numerous deadly attacks on both Egyptian military and civilian targets. Their most recent high profile attack was the downing of a Russian civilian airliner that killed all 224 on board. About the incident, Wilayat Sinaa released an official statement saying “More than 220 Crusaders were on board. All were killed, praise God.”

Egyptian military forces have been trying to rein in Wilayat Sinai through an intensified military crackdown but have so far failed to quell the insurgency.

Israel’s Channel 2 television reported last week that Wilayat Sinai leader Shadi al-Menei secretly crossed the border into Gaza where he met with leaders of the Hamas military wing. According to the report, Hamas has smuggled weaponry from Gaza to al-Menei’s terror group, including the powerful Cornet anti-tank missile.