Islamic State Militants Kill 12 Egyptian Soldiers in Sinai Latest in series of assaults claiming lives of hundreds of government forces and police in the area By Dahlia Kholaif
http://www.wsj.com/articles/militants-kill-12-egyptian-soldiers-in-sinai-1476452087
CAIRO—Islamic State extremists attacked an army checkpoint in Egypt’s restive Sinai peninsula, killing 12 soldiers in the latest of a series of assaults that have claimed the lives of hundreds of government forces and police in the area.
Insurgents driving a sport-utility vehicle attacked the Hasana checkpoint in the northern Sinai, where the army has been engaged in a three-year war against militants, an army spokesperson said. Another six military personnel were wounded, while 15 insurgents were killed.
The Sinai is home to an entrenched insurgency led by Islamic State’s Egyptian affiliate, which took responsibility for Friday’s violence in a statement distributed on social media.
Sinai Peninsula, Islamic State’s local branch and the deadliest Egyptian militant group, regularly strikes military and police targets in Sinai. It claimed responsibility for the downing of a Russian passenger jet in October 2015, in which 224 people died following takeoff from the Red Sea resort city Sharm El Sheikh. Egypt’s once-lucrative tourism sector crashed following that downing.
Friday’s attack “may indicate an escalation in tactics after a relatively long period of relying mainly on [improvised explosive devices] and sniper attacks,” said Mokhtar Awad, a research fellow at George Washington University’s Center for Cyber and Homeland Security.
Egypt’s government has struggled to stem the growth in insurgency since President Abdel Fattah Al Sisi came to power in a 2013 coup, ousting Mohammed Morsi, the nation’s first democratically-elected president. Mr. Sisi has since staked much of his domestic power and international influence on positioning himself as a bulwark against terror.
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