Egyptian officers killed as Sinai campaign escalates

Egyptian officers killed as Sinai campaign escalates
Egyptian army officers have been killed in a bomb in Sinai following the alleged deaths of Islamic State operatives by unidentified airstrikes as the Egyptian military campaign on Sinai escalates.
2 min read
21 May, 2016
There have been reports of heavy military deployment around Rafah and Sheikh Zuwaid [Getty]
Three Egyptian army officers were killed by an explosive device in North Sinai on Saturday afternoon, according to Egyptian security forces.  

The bomb hit an army checkpoint near Sheikh Zuwaid city, North of Sinai governorate.  

It followed the alleged killing of ten members of the Islamic State [IS] group on Friday night.

Egyptian security forces said that the bombing targeted areas outside the towns of Rafah and Sheikh Zuwaid and added that a number of other members of the organisation were injured.

According to local sources the bombing was carried out by an unidentified aircraft targeting homes, cars and motorcycles in sparse areas of North Sinai.

The bombing following the killing of a family of five during raids in the villages north of Rafah earlier this week.  

There have been reports of heavy military deployment around Rafah and Sheikh Zuwaid, leading to speculation that the Egyptian military intends to carry out a ground campaign against IS strongholds in the area.

Egypt is battling an insurgency that gained pace after its military overthrew President Mohammad Morsi from the now banned Muslim Brotherhood movement.

Some Sinai militant groups pledged allegiance to the Islamic State group leadership based in Syria and Iraq in November 2014.

Meanwhile, human rights groups have accused the Egyptian military of committing numerous abuses in counter-insurgency operations against the group in the Sinai.

In March, the army said it killed at least 60 IS militants in an air raid on the group's positions in North Sinai. The military has also razed the homes belonging to thousands of families in the Rafah area – along the border with the Gaza Strip – in a bid to crack down on smuggling through the area's notorious tunnels.