Islamic State Claims Responsibility for Sinai Attack That Killed 11 Egyptian Troops
The Islamic State has claimed responsibility for a weekend attack in the Sinai peninsula that killed 11 Egyptian military personnel. At least five other soldiers were wounded in the Saturday attack on a checkpoint at a water pumping station. The attack was carried out with an explosives-rigged vehicle and heavy weapons fire. ISIS made the claim of responsibility on its Amaq propaganda website a day after the attack. Egyptian President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi said in a Facebook post after the attack that: “These terrorist operations will not defeat the determination of the country and the army to continue uprooting terrorism.” Egyptian security forces have been fighting with terrorists from the Islamic state in the Sinai for years and it was one of the Egyptian army’s heaviest losses since the start of the campaign. More than 1,000 suspected fighters and dozens of security personnel have been killed since the armed violence began more than a decade ago.