Islamic State claims Sinai attack that killed 5 Egyptian troops

By AP 14 May 2022, 6:52 pm

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Mourners and soldiers accompany the casket of Egyptian First Lieutenant Soleman Ali Soleman, one of 11 soldiers killed in an attack claimed by the Islamic State group in the Sinai Peninsula, during his funeral at a mosque in the village Jazirat al-Ahrar in Qalyoubiya province about 70 kilometers north of Cairo, on May 9, 2022. (Khaled Desouki/AFP)

Illustrative: Mourners and soldiers accompany the casket of Egyptian First Lieutenant Soleman Ali Soleman, one of 11 soldiers killed in an attack claimed by the Islamic State group in the Sinai Peninsula, during his funeral at a mosque in the village Jazirat al-Ahrar in Qalyoubiya province about 70 kilometers north of Cairo, on May 9, 2022. (Khaled Desouki/AFP)

CAIRO — An Islamic State affiliate in Egypt on Saturday claims responsibility for an attack that killed at least five troops in the restive part of the Sinai Peninsula.

The extremist group announces its claim of Wednesday’s attack in a statement carried by its Amaq news agency. The authenticity of the statement cannot be verified but it was released on Telegram, as similar claims have been in the past.

The attack involved a militant ambush against a border guard checkpoint west of the Mediterranean city of Rafah, which borders the Gaza Strip.

The military said at least five troops, including an officer, were killed in the attack. At least seven militants were also killed, it said.

It was the second jihadist attack in less than a week.

Last Saturday, at least 11 troops were killed, in one of the deadliest attacks on Egyptian security forces in recent years.

Islamic State also claimed that attack, which took place in the town of Qantara in the province of Ismailia, which stretches eastwards from the Suez Canal.

Egypt is battling an insurgency in Sinai that intensified after the military overthrew an elected but divisive Islamist president in 2013. The extremists have carried out scores of attacks, mainly targeting security forces and Christians, but the pace has slowed in recent years.