By: MadaMasr –
A pair of militant attacks in separate locations in North Sinai over the last two days left at least five soldiers and three militants dead, eight soldiers wounded and five civilians critically injured, according to official statements and sources who spoke to Mada Masr.
Following the attack, authorities cut off landlines and the internet in several cities in the governorate and fighter jets flew overhead.
The Armed Forces spokesperson later issued a press release on Sunday stating that 89 militants were killed by security forces in North Sinai, without specifying when the operations took place.
The five Egyptian soldiers were killed by armed militants in a dawn attack on Saturday at an Armed Forces checkpoint known as Zelzal 13 south of Sheikh Zuwayed and near a camp belonging to the UN peacekeeping forces. The brazen attack is the first of its kind Mada Masr has recorded in the Sheikh Zuwayed district since a similar coordinated attack on a nearby checkpoint, Zelzal 15, in February 2020.
A security source told Mada Masr that three militants approached the army checkpoint, taking advantage of limited visibility during a period of heavy fog, and under the cover of heavy fire from other militants. The three militants were killed, the source said, along with five soldiers, while a further eight soldiers were injured.
A local newspaper in the governorate reported today on the funerals of five soldiers who were killed in North Sinai: Sergeant Mohamed Ragab from Behiera, a conscipt named Sherif Eid Ahmed from Assiut and three conscripts from Minya: Bishoy Milad Nabil, Ihab Milad Zaky, and Ishak Yonan Fayek.
Sunday’s Armed Forces statement said that eight of its personnel were killed and injured, though it did not state when. Other security sources told the Associated Press that Armed Forces casualties stood at five deaths and six injuries.
A separate attack on Sunday saw five civilians injured in the explosion of an improvised explosive device to the south of the city of Bir al-Abd. A medical source told Mada Masr that the injured citizens are all in critical condition.
The explosive device, which was planted inside a power adaptor unit, exploded when technicians opened the unit to fix it, injuring them and a driver passing by at the time, eyewitnesses told Mada Masr. The explosion impacted a civilian vehicle and a maintenance vehicle belonging to the state electricity company.
Though the Islamic State affiliate Province of Sinai has claimed responsibility for similar attacks in the past on checkpoints in Sheikh Zuwayed, as well as IED detonations and targeted attacks against military officers and local members of the Union of Sinai Tribes, the militant group has thus far not claimed responsibility for either of the attacks over the past two days.
Though militant activity in North Sinai has lulled comparatively over the past year, a series of explosive devices left behind by Province of Sinai militants withdrawing from a short-lived occupation of villages in the Green Triangle, including Qatiya, Iqtiya, Ganayen and Merih, caused the death of at least 15 civilians and the injury of another 12 in the last quarter of 2020.
In February 2020, the Province of Sinai militants targeted the Zelzal series of checkpoints south of Sheikh Zewaid, which are located near areas that are known for heavy presence and activity for the militants. The attacks at that time killed seven soldiers and injured another seven.
The Armed Forces statement on Sunday also said that 73 rifles were seized, 404 explosive devices detonated, 52 militant vehicles destroyed, and 13 tunnels used to sneak into North Sinai dismantled.
