Egyptian security personnel were killed Wednesday, June 5 in militant attacks on several security posts in the restive North Sinai region, according to media reports.
One of the checkpoints near the city of Arish was run by Egypt’s Central Security Forces and two others by the military, according to the independent news website Mada Masr, which said 10 police officers had been killed.
The militants attempted to capture armored vehicles, according to reports on social media and AFP citing a security source.
Police and Egyptian Armed Forces personnel were battling the attackers and killed a number of the militants, the reports said.
Egypt’s interior ministry later put the death toll at eight, including two officers, and said five militants were killed. The ministry said the attack targeted the Batal-14 checkpoint south of Arish, but did not confirm reports of two additional attacks.
Islamic State propaganda agency Amaq claimed that ISIS fighters killed 10 Egyptian security personnel.
Egypt has for years fought insurgent groups in the northern Sinai Peninsula. Access to North Sinai is restricted, but a military offensive launched last February against Islamic State in the Sinai has killed more than 550 suspected jihadists and around 50 soldiers, according to government statistics.