An unknown gunmen killed 16 soldiers in the Sinai Peninsula in attack against Israel.
It was the bloodiest in a series of violent incidents on the Egypt. The gunman raided an Egyptian army base in Rafah on Sunday night, killed the guards and steals two vehicles, which they used to penetrate more than a mile into Israeli territory.
The gunmen, who wore suicide bomb vests, were intercepted and killed by Israeli forces near the town of Yavul.
Since the onset of the protests against Hosni Mubarak’s regime in January 2011, the Sinai Peninsula has become increasingly lawless.
Israel has accused Cairo’s new president Mohammed Morsi of failing to take control of the situation. Thousands of Europeans visit Egypt’s Red Sea resorts in Sinai, making the deteriorating security situation a danger to the country’s economy, as well as to Israel.