Egyptian security officials on Wednesday said the “worst” militant attack in the country’s restive Sinai Peninsula has killed at least 50 soldiers.
According to the Washington Post, Egypt’s Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS) affiliate has claimed responsibility for the attacks.
The attack targeted at least six checkpoints south of the town of Sheikh Zuweid. The assailants also took soldiers captive and seized several armoured vehicles.
This act of violence comes just two days after one of Egypt’s top prosecutors, Hisham Barakat, was assassinated in Cairo and a day after President Abdel-Fattah al Sissi pledged to step up two-year crackdown on the militants.
Militants in northern Sinai, which borders Israel and the Gaza Strip, have long battled the country’s security forces but intensified their attacks after military ousted former President Mohammed Morsi in July 2013. (ANI)