Egypt says Sinai fighting kills 12 security forces

Militants kill 10 Egyptian soldiers and two policemen in the Sinai Peninsula, underscoring the challenge security forces face in combating an Islamic State affiliate in the restive area bordering Israel and the Gaza Strip.

Army spokesman Tamer el-Rifai says the troops were carrying out a raid in which they killed 15 militants and arrested another seven. The three officers and seven enlisted men were killed by roadside bombs while in pursuit of the militants, he says.

The Interior Ministry says the two police were killed near a police station in the city of el-Arish, where much of the violence has been centered.

Egyptian military soldiers inspect the scene after a suicide attacker drove his explosive-laden car into the bus near the border town of Rafah, November 20, 2013. (AP/Official Facebook Page of the Egyptian Military Spokesman of the Armed Forces)
Egyptian military soldiers inspect the scene after a suicide attacker drove his explosive-laden car into the bus near the border town of Rafah, November 20, 2013. (AP/Official Facebook Page of the Egyptian Military Spokesman of the Armed Forces)

Egypt has been battling an insurgency in northern Sinai for years. The army says it is taking the fight deeper into the peninsula’s sparsely populated desert and mountainous areas, targeting insurgent weapons depots and strongholds.

Troops destroyed a large amount of explosives in the raid and seized other weapons, ammunition and equipment, including roadside bombs, computers, solar panels, documents and mobile phones, al-Rifai said.

— AP

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