Daesh claims responsibility for latest attacks in Sinai 

Daesh in Egypt yesterday claimed responsibility for attacks over the last four days that have killed and injured 20 Egyptian soldiers in northern Sinai.

The Egyptian affiliate of the militant group made the announcement on a pro-Daesh website stating that the fighting that had taken place in the south of the coastal city of Al-Arish had also destroyed two tanks, a Humvee and two military vehicles.

The Egyptian government has yet to comment on the claim of responsibility with the Sinai Peninsula cordoned off from the media.

The recent attack is part of a steady string of deadly attacks by an Islamist insurgency, affiliated with Daesh, on security personnel and army barracks in the Sinai since the 2013 ousting by a military coup of President Mohamed Morsi.

As a response, Egypt has recently stepped its security operations around the south of Al-Arish and the peninsula killing militants and seizing weapons, ammunition and explosives in what President Abdel Fattah Al-Sisi has described as a “harsh war”.

Al-Sisi called on Egyptians to stand together against terrorism.

On Monday, Christian supermarket owner Wael Milad was shot in Al-Arish by suspected militants who fled to the olive orchards south of the city, according to security officials.

Christians in Egypt have become a common target for militants; last summer, Daesh shot down a priest, Rafael Moussa, in Al-Arish as he waited for his car to be repaired.

Nearly 30 Christians were also killed in December last year when a suicide bomber blew himself up inside a packed Cairo church. Daesh later claimed responsibility for the attack.