6 international peacekeepers hurt in ISIS bombings in Egypt

Cairo: Six international peacekeepers, including four Americans, have been injured in two roadside bombings in Egypt’s volatile Sinai Peninsula where the dreaded Islamic State militants are active, officials said today.

The bombs were planted in Al-Gora road, south of Sheikh Zwayed city, near a camp of the peacekeepers.

The peacekeepers, part of a force that monitors a 1979 peace treaty between Egypt and Israel, are based in the North Sinai region. The bombings were also confirmed by US Defence Department.

“We are aware that four US and two Multinational Force and Observer (MFO) peacekeepers were injured (Thursday) in two IED explosions in northeast Sinai,” US Defence Department spokesman Captain Jeff Davis said in a statement.

The nationalities of the other two could not be ascertained immediately. Davis said the MFO evacuated the soldiers by air to a medical facility where all were being provided treatment for non-life-threatening injuries.

Twelve countries, including Australia, Britain and Canada and the United States, contribute troops to the mission.

Egypt’s North Sinai has witnessed many violent attacks by militants since the January 2011 revolution that toppled president Hosni Mubarak.

The attacks targeting police and military increased after the ouster of Islamist president Mohamed Morsi in 2013 by military following massive protests against his rule. More than 600 security personnel have been reported killed since then.

The military has launched security campaigns in the area, arrested suspects and demolished houses belonging to terrorists, including those facilitating tunnels leading to the Gaza Strip.

PTI