Gunmen attack Egyptian police in Sinai

Gunmen attacked Egyptian police in the northern Sinai town of al-Arish Thursday morning, a day after Egyptian planes pounded targets in the area.

According to Egyptian state television, the clashes were the result of the military’s crackdown in the peninsula, following the death of 16 Egyptian soldiers in a terror attack aimed at Israel on Sunday.

Thursday’s gunfire took place outside the local police station, Army Radio reported. There were no reports of casualties.

Egypt’s army and security forces on Tuesday launched an offensive to “restore control” over Sinai after a brazen attack by terrorists on a border police barracks in Rafah near the border with Israel on Sunday, after which the terrorist smashed through the border into Israel, made clear the terror cells’ growing strength.

Gunmen also attacked three checkpoints in the Sinai early Wednesday.

Egypt responded on Wednesday by shelling sites in the northern Sinai town of al-Tami, in a bid to root out terrorist elements.

Egypt’s use of planes and helicopters in its attempt to retake control represented a serious intensification in the conflict. It was the first time since the 1973 Yom Kippur War that Egypt deployed planes in the Sinai.