Advertisement

ISIL affiliate claims attack on Egypt military in Sinai

A group linked to the self-proclaimed Islamic State organisation has claimed it carried out attacks in Egypt’s Sinai region which killed five members of the security forces on Saturday. Several mortar rounds hit two military checkpoints near the northern town of Sheikh Zuweid. North Sinai is the epicentre of an insurgency by militants supporting ISIL. Its Egyptian affiliate, known as Sinai Province, says it attacked an Egyptian naval vessel in the Mediterranean Sea on Thursday. The group claimed it fired a missile that struck the ship. Egypt’s military said one of its vessels caught fire following clashes with jihadists, but said no-one was injured. The jihadist group has killed hundreds of soldiers and police since the overthrow of Islamist President Mohammad Mursi two years ago.