Twenty-seven soldiers were among 30 people killed when militants struck multiple security posts in Egypt’s North Sinai in a series of attacks, involving car bombs and mortar rounds, one of the deadliest assaults claimed by a group that recently pledged allegiance to Islamic State.
Militants fired a barrage of rockets and set off a car bomb in a series of attacks on Thursday in restive north Sinai, killing at least 27 soldiers, three civilians and injuring 60 others, officials said.
The attacks targeted the headquarters of the North Sinai security directorate in the provincial capital of Al-Arish, a nearby army base, a hotel and several security checkpoints, state TV and the Ahram Arabic news website reported.
“Militants fired mortar rounds and used car bombs in the attacks,” Egyptian TV reported.
Egypt’s Sinai has witnessed many violent attacks by militants since the January 2011 revolution that toppled ex-president Hosni Mubarak.
The attacks targeting police and military increased after the ouster of Islamist president Mohammed Morsi in 2013. Over 500 security personnel have been killed since then.